Better Than Before
by October Ashes
Summary: Death isn't even finality anymore. Well, at least not for John Watson or Sherlock Holmes. In the 21st century the Doctor and the famed Detective find themselves ghost-guardians to a pair of females. This was not what they planned for eternal rest.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'll start out by being blunt. This fic is a collaboration between myself and KatXValentine. It's also our first Sherlock Holmes fanfic. We're stepping waaaay out of the box with this one, so be patient and any questions you have will be answered in time. Happy reading!**

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Better Than Before

Prologue

_Trotting around the city at this hour definitely is not a good idea. The weather is cool and damp and the sun hasn't even risen in the sky yet. Curse the military for putting such an idea into the head of a young soldier. Jogging in a foreign place in this day in age is not a good idea for a young woman with a limp. I tell her so but she ignores me, as usual, like she's pretending I haven't known her for 24 years.  
_  
_She's stubborn; very stubborn, in fact. Full of that damn Irish pride that I hate so much, with a hint of Scottish arrogance. Why the hell would the two nationalities ever mix, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine, and I wish my old friend were still around so he could come up with an absurd reasoning.  
_  
_She takes a right and nearly falls into a pothole. Stupid, stupid girl.  
_  
_I watch as she falls to the ground and glares at the evil concrete. She looks up at me with that pathetic look that is so familiar, yet so distant to me… The look my friend used to use to try and make me feel bad for catching him in the act of something… That was usually along the lines of breaking into my office and stealing my medical supplies._

_"Why are you looking at me like that,"_ _I finally ask her.  
_  
_She gestures wildly at the pothole, like a person flailing their arms to stay afloat in the ocean, and punches me in the leg. I don't know how it's possible for her to actually hit me… I mean, I am dead, after all. _

"_What the bloody hell was that for?" I shout. _

_She sighs and looks around. After 24 years, I really don't understand why she bothers anymore. _

"_You didn't warn me about the pothole, John. You're acting like a skittish poodle and it's really starting to irk me. What are you so afraid of?"  
_  
_I smack myself in the forehead and run my hand down my face. Honestly, could she get any more arrogant? _

"_I'm acting like a skittish poodle because I actually care about your safety, Mackenzie. You're a 24-year-old young woman with a bum knee running around New York City at 6:30 in the morning. Don't you think there's a reason to worry?"  
_  
_She smirks, just like my old friend would, and shakes her head in amusement. _

"_Oh, John. Where would I be without you?" She asks, sarcasm oozing out of her tone. _

_I. Hate. Sarcasm.  
_  
_"Dead..?" I offer.  
_  
_"John Hamish Watson! Aren't you supposed to be a gentleman?"  
_  
_The use of my full name is utterly ineffective and, therefore, quite useless. I never reacted to it, not even when Mother tried to scold me. It always made me smile and this time was no different. _

"_Oh, Mackenzie… Why bother being a gentleman when it's so out of style? Men hit their girlfriend's everyday now, my dear. The only 'nice' men out there are the ones that float the other way."  
_  
_She laughs at my choice of words. _

"_You have such a strange way of wording things, John," _

_She looks across the street and tilts her head to the side like a confused dog. She looks at me, studying every single detail about my clothes, and then returns her eyes to the other side of the street. _

"_John… Do you know that man?" She asks and nudges her head – oh, how adorable. She refuses to point – in the direction of what appears to be a man from the same era as me.  
_  
_He has dark out of control hair that seems to defy all laws of gravity. His arms are tucked behind his back as he walks around. He's actually pacing in front of what appears to be a pub. The grayish-blue suit he's wearing is extremely familiar to my eyes… So is the way he turns as he's walking – one foot planted on the ground, the other takes a step forward and pivots. He must notice somebody is looking at him, so he turns and glances my way. We lock eyes for a mere moment. I feel my heart leap into my throat.  
_  
_It is him. It is Sherlock Holmes._


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, hello there, denizens of ! This is KatxValentine, bringing to you the first chapter of this fanfic. I'm writing this from Holmes' PoV and introducing the second OC in here. My co-author (obviously, as this is on her account) is the lovely October Ashes. We do hope you enjoy this, we don't own anything but Kenzie and Terry, and without further ado, on with the show! **

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For precisely twenty-four years, three months and twelve days I have closely examined one Terry Kadin Bryant. I have intimately unraveled her secrets, witnessed her ups and downs and, finally, I have come to the dilemma I am in, now.

The downward spiral she is careening into is obvious. For a good portion of four years I have seen all the ways a promising, bright young lady could ruin her entire life. Through the years I have seen her fired from many occupations, the absolute worst certainly at a ridiculous store where she stuffed silly bears for small children. Clearly inebriated, I recall her telling a six-year-old girl that 'putting a pink dress on a bear doesn't make it a princess anymore than putting a stolen lab coat on a girl makes her a forensic psychologist'. The noted bitterness in her tone was unmistakable.

I see her yowling and kicking at the overweight bartender, the man who has tossed her out of this establishment more times than I can keep track of. She's obviously utterly tanked and she hits the ground in front of me when he lets go, dropping her onto the pavement. The Manhattan evening is loud and busy but the sidewalks have calmed, leaving only the obnoxious blare of automobile horns in the night.

She looks up at me, clearly helpless, her blue eyes stuffed messily under wavy, dark bangs. This brief instant of vulnerability is dispelled when I say, "You're making a complete and total fool of yourself and it is improper for a lady to partake in such debauchery. What kind of satisfaction could you possibly procure from gaining yourself another enemy to add to your already lengthy list? Also, you seem to have spilt brandy on your blouse."

She doesn't answer, only crawls to her knees and punches me in the knee. She barely manages this, a messy bundle of stupidity laden with the drawbacks of impairment, and impatiently pushes her thick hair behind her ears.

"Screw you, schizerphrenic delusion." She slurs messily. I sigh and question her methods, all of them. In university she was nothing less than a depraved party animal with the most excellent grades. In spite of a relentless attachment to the fraternity house, she retained B's or better in all of her classes. This has not reflected in her later achievements, as I'm sure any of you can tell.

She's still pinned to the ground, it seems, gripping the pavement for spinning balance. Her palms scrape the concrete and the ground leaves tiny, red irritations all over her pale skin. She is trying quite hard to gather her bearings.

Mere feet away a woman stands, a terribly familiar man beside her in gaping awe. He is wearing a suit, perhaps it is grey tweed, and above his lip is a silly, dark brown mustache to match his short, unruly dark brown hair. This ludicrous travesty settled above his upper lip makes him obvious to me in only one way; he is John Watson.

He is stunned, stopped entirely in his tracks, in some way clearly admiring how undoubtedly good I must look despite my state of living: or, rather, my state of _unliving. _His mouth breaks into an immense smile as Terry presses her forehead to the ground, breathing in and out through waves of dizziness that attack and break like the ocean in a furious hurricane. Perhaps, I think, in a somewhat breath of relief, I will not have to talk Terry down from a drunken stupor on my own as she smashed valuable-looking (though inescapably cheap) vases she purchases from various stores just for the sake of breaking. Maybe I will not have to go this one alone.

It is hard enough convincing her I am not, in fact, a 'schizophrenic delusion'. It becomes even more difficult to make her think I am _also_ not an 'alcoholic delusion'.

"Holmes?" He says, disbelieving, and I cannot blame him. It has been more years than countable since we've seen each other, but he does not make a move. The woman with him gazes down at my obviously stupid (if not irresponsible) charge, flinching when Terry attempts getting to her feet and succeeds only in stumbling back to her bottom. She is borderline embarrassing to act as a guardian to and I cannot even do that. It would require her to come to terms with the fact that I am not merely the hallucination of a mind drowned almost completely in Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola concoctions.

"Indeed, my dear Watson." I smile. I feel as though he should bridge the gap, even just for the smallest inch.

The world itself is made up of more than a billion people. The chances of meeting the singular one you have positive history with are almost minute, yet somehow fortune seems to have smiled upon me.

Terry leans back on her palms, tilting her head back so drastically that all of her hair swoops behind her shoulders. She sways in the breeze for a moment, looking very much like the very textbook definition of boisterousness. Finally, she manages, "Why's my schizerphrenic d'lusion talking to your guy?"

Evenly, Watson responds with, "Because he is not a schizophrenic delusion."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/ N: Hello there, fellow Sherlock Holmes fans! It's October Ashes again. Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I speak for both KatxValentine and myself when I say we're glad you're enjoying the story so far and we hope you continue to enjoy it. **

**On with the show!**

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_It was some time later before she finally glanced over her shoulder at me. She didn't seem to want to acknowledge me, but I continued tapping my cane at an annoying rate. I had been doing so for nearly two hours so far. She was bound to give in eventually._

"_Stop breathing down my back, John."_

_I couldn't help but glare at her. She ignored me for two hours and she was telling me to stop breathing down her back? People these days! Where are the manners I worked so hard teaching this girl when she was just shy of seven years old?_

"_My job is to breathe down your back, Mackenzie. You need to listen to me… I really need you to do something for me… Please?"_

_Sure, begging wasn't a part of my repertoire, but I guess the tone I used made her feel somewhat bad for me, for she turned to look at me… And she didn't look pleased. I didn't really care. She owed it to me. I helped her… Now she can help me._

"_We can't stop to get pizza or to look at dogs, but we can stop so you can request a favor?" She asked quite angrily._

_I couldn't suppress my sigh. This was going to be harder than I originally thought… But it didn't matter. I had endless amounts of emotion I could pour into this. I really needed her to help me. And she was going to do it whether she liked it or not. _

_I can't believe I'm this desperate._

"_I'm sorry, Kenzie. I wanted you to get to a place that was relatively quiet so I could talk to you…"_

_Kenzie sighed as well. I wish she didn't mirror my actions sometimes. It was quite awkward._

"_It's alright, John. What is it?"_

_I looked around sheepishly. I absolutely hate sounding desperate and I really didn't like having to put Mackenzie in the middle… But, you know what they say… Desperate times call for desperate measures._

"_I… I need you to follow that girl…"_

_Kenzie looked at me in a way I could only describe as pure skepticism. I hated it when she did that._

"_You're… Kidding… Right?" She asked._

_I glared at her and nodded my head in disagreement. She was difficult sometimes. What's the word that people use nowadays? Feisty?_

"_No, Mackenzie. I'm serious. I need you to follow her. Please."_

_I think she was able to see right through me._

_No pun intended, of course._

"_You want me to follow that insane, drunken bar hopper for the sake of you being able to talk to her guardian?"_

_I highly doubt that girl bar hops all the time… Although I'm quite sure she does it at least 4 times a week… Alright. So she's a bar hopper? Who cares? It's not her I'm after…_

"_How did you know?" I asked._

_She looked quite pleased at my utter shock. How absolutely rude of her. After all these years of me watching out for her… She goes and pulls that cockiness out of nowhere? I honestly don't know where she gets it from. _

"_Contrary to popular belief, you're quite easy to read. Besides, I've known you all my life… And we're a lot alike… What's special about him?"_

"_We were best friends. He was a private consulting detective and I was a doctor. His name is Sherlock Holmes. Not many people understand him. Not many people befriended him. But I did. And I understand him. He took the time out to help me get back on my feet after returning from my time serving in Her Royal Majesty's Army during the Battle of Maiwand. Holmes helped me… And it meant more to me than anyone would ever know… Please, Kenzie..," I used my once successful green puppy dog eyes to put emphasis on my request. "He's all I've got."_

_The slightly irritated look on her face went away._

_I won._

"_How are we supposed to find her, then?" _

_I chuckled._

"_I'll find Holmes and ask him what her name is and where she can be found. I'll meet you back at the hotel in a few hours."_

_I turn my back and begin to walk away. I was quite tempted to pull a trick out of my book that I hadn't used in awhile, but boy did my leg ache for months after I did that… I was probably better off walking, anyway._

"_John…"_

_I turned back to look at her with slightly narrowed eyes. She was wasting my precious time! Locating Sherlock Holmes was never easy when he was alive… How was I going to do so now that he was deceased?_

"_What?"_

_She looked down at the floor uncomfortably, then tucked her arms behind her back in a pure Sherlock Holmes-fashion and looked up at me. Where did she get that from?_

"_I was supposed to go looking for jobs today…"_

_I 'tsk'ed' at her and wagged my finger as if to say 'no, no.'_

"_That was before we ran into Sherlock Holmes. Now, seriously, Mackenzie. Get back to the hotel; I'll be there as soon as I can. The game's afoot!" _


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I know I'm always complaining about how much I hate having author's notes at the beginning of the chapter, but I felt this one was necessary. First of all, I want to thank all of you for your patience during the hiatus of this story. Second, I would like to announce that this story is no longer a collaboration with KatxValentine, as I'm writing this by myself from here on out. My co-author, who was supposed to write this chapter, refused to give me an update and I refuse to wait any longer.**

**On with the show!**

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I narrowed my eyes angrily as I paced back and forth.

One would think that, after twenty-four years, I would have been able to convince Terry that I wasn't a schizophrenic delusion. But no, the drunken idiot in front of me allows her stubborn Irish pride to stand strong.

This girl has probably gotten fired from more jobs than I've seen dead bodies, and that sure as hell says something. If she's planning on keeping her apartment in Manhattan, she's going to have to either stop drinking or look into flat share.

"Stop moving… Your shoes are too loud." Terry drunkenly slurs, her hands attempting to cover her ears.

I stop moving and look at her, an eyebrow raised in slight annoyance.

"You should probably stop drinking, you know."

"And why is that?" She asks.

"For one, it's bad for your health. It's also impairing your judgment more than usual… And you're losing more money than you earn."

I nudge my head towards a pile of papers on the table, trying to make her realize she has bills to pay.

"Yeah? And why should I listen to my schizophrenic delusion?" She asked, continuing to slur her words, further proving my point.

I tried to keep calm, but the little voice in the corner of my head was telling me to snap.

So I did.

"For the last time, Terry, I am not a schizophrenic delusion! I have a name, and it is Sherlock Holmes. What don't you understand about my presence here? I'm here to make sure you don't get hurt or die before your time to go, and I can't do that if you refuse to acknowledge me for who I am."

Terry rolled her eyes, drunkenly waving her arm in attempt to brush me off.

"Pfffffft, yeah. Okay. Delusions don't have names."

"Then explain how another person saw me, and another so-called 'delusion' mentioned me by name." I challenged.

She stared at me, drunken confusion etched on her face.

"I don't know."

"Fine then." I replied, choosing not to argue.

I put my hands behind my back and stalked over to the window, peering outside. Although I wished I could go out in search of John Watson, my duty is to watch over Terry, no matter how difficult she's being.

"How the hell did I run out of money so fast? I got paid yesterday!" Terry yelled.

Oh. She must've found the rent bill she hid from herself yesterday.

"Problem?" I asked, still keeping my back to her.

"I don't have enough money for the rent. Wait, why the hell am I talking to you?"

"Because I'm here to listen?" I inquire.

I can see her roll her eyes in her reflection on the window.

"I need another job." She complains.

My mind drifted away as she once again grew silent, probably searching through her bankbook to see if she has extra money somewhere she can use to pay the rent bill.

I couldn't help but think about John Watson and the young Scottish girl he was with. Judging by her accent and her slight confusion as to where she was earlier, she was new to Manhattan. Maybe she was in need of lodging?

"Why don't you look into flat share?" I ask, throwing a quick glance at her over my shoulder.

"What the hell is flat share?" She growls.

"I believe, in America, it's called acquiring a room mate."

Terry glared.

"Why the hell would I want to get a room mate?"

"Well, for one, you could have more spending money."

I saw Terry put a hand to her chin in thought.

"You're a smart schizophrenic delusion. Maybe I'll put an ad out in the paper..,"

I turned around to see what silenced her and saw John Watson had entered the flat.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Terry shouted.

John removed his hat and bowed his head slightly. Even in death, he's still the perfect gentleman.

Makes me nauseous.

"Doctor John Hamish Watson, ma'am. I'm here to talk to Sherlock Holmes."

Terry put her hands up in defeat and backed away.

"It's good to see you again, Watson."

"Likewise, Holmes. I assume you've been in Manhattan longer than I have, and I was wondering if you knew of any locations around here where Kenzie and I could move… We've been looking for about a week now and haven't had much luck."

Oh. Coincidence.

I couldn't stop the smirk from spreading like wild fire on my face.

"Indeed, I've been here for several years now. And I have excellent news to share with you, my dear Watson! Terry Bryant, that young girl there, has agreed to advertise for flat share!"

"Oh," Watson asked, looking back and forth between Terry and I. "That's fantastic! I'll tell Kenzie!"

"Who's Kenzie?" Terry suddenly asked.

"Young Scottish girl that was with me when we crossed paths earlier." Watson replied, looking her in the eyes.

"Oh. Right." Terry replied.

"Still think Holmes is a schizophrenic delusion?" Watson asked.

Terry looked at me, then back at Watson. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Leave it alone, John." I told him, making him look back at me.

He had a suspicious eyebrow quirked, probably at my use of his first name.

"Ah, right. I'd better get back to Kenzie. She's kind of irritated with me right now…" Watson stated, rocking on his heels.

"Alright, then. See you later, Watson."

"Remember… Interviews in two days." Terry stated.

I watched as Watson politely nodded his head and smiled goodbye at her, then took his leave.

Terry turned to look at me again, eyebrows raised and a somewhat accusing look on her face.

"I think you've got some explaining to do… About him, I mean."


	5. Chapter 4

_I wasted no time rushing back to Kenzie's hotel room. I had to tell her about the development in finding better lodgings. I walked in the room and saw her playing paddleball. _

"_Kenzie!"_

_The woman in question merely winced as the ball hit her in the head, then turned and glared at me._

"_Hello to you too, John."_

_I walked closer to her and sat down on the floor next to her, then waited for her to look at me again. Once she did, I smiled._

"_I found Sherlock Holmes!" I announced. _

_She smiled back at me._

"_That's nice. What happened?"_

"_Well, he mentioned that woman he guards… Terry Bryant… Will be advertising her apartment for flat share," _

_My voice trailed off when I saw her face fall._

"_What's the matter?" I asked._

"_Nothing." She replied._

"_Don't lie to me, Mackenzie."_

"_I'm not lying. Flat share is great."_

"_Why do I feel a 'but' coming on?" I asked._

"_I don't like the idea of having to live with that woman."_

_I sighed. Kenzie is a very stubborn woman. It's going to be difficult for me to change her mind about this._

_But it will be done._

"_I realize she's not your ideal friend, Mackenzie, but… Please… I'm asking you… Begging, even. Go to the interview. I need to be near Sherlock Holmes."_

"_You've never complained before…" She comments._

"_Yes, well, I hadn't seen him in almost a century. I did think about him at times, but at that point, I didn't think I would see him again. Now that I have…"_

"_You don't want to be without him." Kenzie finished my statement for me._

"_Yeah. I guess you could say that."_

_Kenzie sighed and put the paddleball on the floor next to her. She turned to look me in the eyes._

"_So… You want me to put up with that vile woman just so you can have access to her guardian?" _

"_That pretty much sums it up."_

_She sighed again, continuing to look me in the eyes._

"_You must really love that guy."_

"'_Love' isn't exactly the word… He was a terrible flat mate. Set fire to the rooms, conducted absurd experiments, left severed body parts in the kitchen, made all sorts of noise at all hours of the night…"_

_Kenzie started laughing, so I smiled in return. _

"_I guess I can deal with her. Just for you, John. I'm just hoping that part of Sherlock hasn't gotten to her."_

_My smile became more compassionate and grateful._

"_I'm sure it hasn't. Thank you so much, Mackenzie. You won't regret it."_


	6. Chapter 5

"You're going to have to leave."

The person – Margaret Bellows – looked at Terry in what anyone would describe as pure shock.

"W…Why?" She asked, her mouth gaping open a bit.

Terry looked down at her notes, which were just sloppy scribbles of beer bottles and different names of alcoholic beverages.

"Well… You don't like Guinness… So you're going to have to go."

"But beer has nothing to do with…"

"It has everything to do with living together!" Terry shouted.

I tried to stifle my laughter, then remembered Terry was the only one who could hear me.

Margaret glared at Terry as she stood up and stormed out of the flat.

"That was quite humorous, Terry. I must compliment you on your ability to scare people away."

Terry rolled her eyes with a sly smile on her face. She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal John Watson and Kenzie Hawes.

"Oh. You're here," Terry commented, then ushered them in and slammed the door.

Terry and Kenzie sat down across from one another. Watson smiled and turned to look at me.

"Tough night thus far?" He asked.

I scoffed.

"We've had five interviews and all of them ended abruptly."

Watson laughed.

"Any particular reason?" He inquired.

"Nope."

We looked back at Kenzie and Terry and saw them staring at us.

"Good. You're done. Interview time. What's your name?" Terry asked.

"Mackenzie Hawes." Kenzie replied.

"I'm Terry Bryant. Do you have a nickname?" Terry asked.

"Kenzie."

"Right. Thank God. Now… Where are you from?"

"Scotland."

"Wow. What the hell are you doing here?"

Watson and I groaned in unison.

"I was invalided home from Iraq to find out my mother died and my father came to New York. So I'm here to find him and go home."

I looked at Watson and raised a confused eyebrow, to which he mouthed 'I'll tell you later' in response.

Terry blinked confusedly at Kenzie.

"Do you come with subtitles? I can't understand a word you're saying."

"Sorry." Kenzie replied.

Terry blinked several times, then nodded her head.

"Do you like Guinness?"

Watson and I looked over at Kenzie in anticipation.

"Yes."

Terry smiled like the Cheshire cat.

"Well, you've earned some brownie points. Do you have a job?"

"No, not yet. I'm looking around… I have an interview tomorrow."

Terry once again blinked confusedly at Kenzie.

"Can you speak American?" Terry asked.

"I've only been here for a week. I apologize." Kenzie stated, trying to Londonize her thick Calton accent.

"So you don't have a job yet?"

"No, I have an interview tomorrow." Kenzie replied.

Terry must've understood her this time, because she nodded in understanding.

"Oh. Okay. Do you have enough money to help pay bills now?" Terry asked.

"Yes. Wouldn't be here if I didn't."

Terry nodded her head in approval.

"My sch… I mean… Sherlock Holmes over there… Seems to really like you."

Kenzie looked over at me.

"I'm sure it's because of John." She replied.

Terry looked at Kenzie, then at John and I. She sighed.

"After reviewing many boring applicants, I think it would be wise of me to offer you the spare room in my apartment. Congratulations, new room mate. What should we do to celebrate..?" Terry asked, putting her hand to her chin in thought.

"We can order pizza and get some beer..?" Kenzie offered.

Terry looked at Kenzie with her Cheshire cat smile.

"I like you already."


	7. Chapter 6

_It hasn't even been a day since Kenzie moved in and I can already see how frustrated she is. Terry refuses to help clean up anything in the flat, even if it's hers, and she got into a screaming match with her boss on the phone._

_Holmes and I have been trying to distance ourselves from everything, but it's not going over very well._

_"She's such a slob! Why didn't he warn you?" Kenzie asked._

_I shrugged my shoulders._

_"What can I say? Her and Holmes are very similar. It's scary." _

_Kenzie glared at me in response. I vaguely remember doing the same thing many years ago after I moved in with Holmes. Except poor Mrs. Hudson was on the receiving end of my outburst, and I had her to keep me sane. _

_The only one who Kenzie can talk to without getting strange looks about is the same person she has a problem with. I don't think that's a very good idea. _

_"Whatever. It'd be nice to have some help around here... I can handle unpacking on my own. Hell, I've done it enough, but she should clean her own mess!" Kenzie shouted. _

_"I agree wholeheartedly, dear. But I'm afraid you're going to have to suck it up and move on. The only way for you to grow as a person is…"_

"_To learn. I know. You've told me that several hundred times. I just didn't realize she was so… Out of control."_

_I turned to look at Kenzie again and saw her glaring at the wall, which had several small round holes in it. She turned to look at me with an eyebrow raised._

"_One could only assume those are bullet holes… What time is your interview with Stardust?"_

"_Did I just hear your schizophrenic delusion say 'Stardust'?" _

_Kenzie and I turned around and saw Terry had entered the room with Holmes close behind. He had his hands folded behind his back and was looking around the room somewhat nervously._

"_He's not a schizophrenic delusion… But, yes. John said Stardust…" Kenzie replied._

"_As in the Stardust Diner?" Terry asked, somewhat narrowing her eyes at Kenzie._

"_Yes. Why?"_

"_I work there! Well, part time, anyway. Those soul suckers at the stupid Bear-or-Build workshop try to claim me as their property quite frequently…"_

"_Terry, I believe you mean the Build-a-Bear workshop." Holmes stated, glaring at the back of Terry's head._

_Terry stared at Kenzie and I for a short amount of time, probably trying to figure out if Holmes was right or not._

"_Whatever. The name doesn't really matter; I hate it either way. With all the kids and the stupid birthday parties and the 'oh my God, spin around four times and jump up and down like you have a pogo stick shoved up your ass and then kiss the felt heart and shove it up your bears ass' shit gets annoying as hell..,"_

_Terry stopped talking when she noticed the strange look Kenzie was giving her._

"_You don't have a Build-a-Bear workshop in Scotchland, do you?"_

"_You mean 'Scotland.' And yes, we have them in the United Kingdom…"_

"_What's with the face, then?" Terry asked._

"_Your way of describing it… I think Build-a-Bear is a great place for little kids."_

"_Obviously you've never worked at one." Terry stated._

"_Nope. Don't really plan on it, either. Anyway, I'd better get going. My interview starts in an hour."_

_Kenzie walked into her room and closed the door._

"_Whatever… I guess I'll go… Do something." _

_Terry walked towards her room._

_Holmes looked over at me the moment the door clicked._

"_My, my… It's like us all over again, my dearest Watson!"_

"_A little too much like us, Holmes. Next thing you know, they'll have people banging their door down for help with a missing person…"_

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**A/N: As I said with my other story, I deeply apologize for making you guys wait so long for me to update this. It took me a little while to decide on what to have happen, but I have a basic idea for what I want to do from hereon out, so all shall be well. Thanks for your patience, and let me know if you have any Sherlock Holmes/BBC Sherlock story requests! :D**


	8. Chapter 7

It has been two weeks, three days, twelve hours and fifty minutes since Kenzie and Watson moved in with Terry and I.

Needless to say, there hasn't been a dull moment.

There have been several instances where Terry returned home from whatever it is she was doing (usually it's bar-hopping or close encounters with people she doesn't necessarily see eye-to-eye with) too drunk to function. Kenzie watched her like a hawk and waited for her to collapse wherever she felt like it, then picked her up and brought her to her room.

I look over at Watson every time Kenzie does it. He always has such a proud look in his eyes.

Watson and I are currently trailing behind Kenzie and Terry, who are walking through the streets of Manhattan in total silence.

That is, until a flier on the wall caught my attention.

"Holmes?"

I looked to the side and saw Watson standing there, looking at me with concern in his eyes. Even Terry and Kenzie had started walking in my direction to look at the flier.

"It's Christmas!" I exclaimed.

"Christmas isn't until December." Kenzie mumbled, smiling at people who passed by and looked at her oddly.

"There's a missing person!"

"Oh, I see... Next thing you know, he's going to do his dead body dance." Watson stated.

"What? You keep saying they're a lot like us. _Too much _like us, in fact. Maybe they should be working as private investigators."

"They're human beings, Holmes. Kenzie is far from her hometown and Terry can't keep away from alcohol for more than two hours at a time!"

"That's not true. I haven't had a drink since ten in the morning." Terry argued.

"And what time is it now, dear?" Watson asked.

Terry looked at her watch for the time. "It's eleven thirty… Oh, I see what you mean. You're trying to tell me that when the clock strikes twelve, I deserve another drink."

I watched as Watson massaged his temples, grumbling quietly to himself.

"Watson," I patiently waited for the man in question to pay attention to me. "They _need _to do something with their lives that doesn't concern waiting tables, mixing drinks and stuffing teddy bears. We should guide them into being consulting detectives."

"Consulting what? You do know that cops and I don't mix, right?" Terry questioned.

I glared at her. "You keep complaining about being bored and doing nothing with your mundane life. You have Watson and I. More importantly, you have Kenzie. We can do this. The four of us. We can solve crimes nobody else can."

"You're still thinking in terms of early twentieth century London, Holmes. Times have changed. Besides, we're in a different country now." Kenzie stated.

"Hush, now! I've been around for ages before coming here and receiving the ability to communicate with Watson. I've waited _years _for this chance. I'm not going to pass it up just because some orphan from Scotland–"

"Holmes!"

The look on Watson's face was nothing short of irritated. Kenzie didn't seem too phased by it, but there was still a twinge of anger in her eyes.

"One parent being deceased does not label me as an orphan, Mr. Holmes. It'd do you good to remember that."

Okay. A little too far.

"Right. I apologize. I seemingly lost my temper and it will not happen again. As I was saying, all we need are the right connections… We don't have to work with the police, as I once did, but we can be private investigators of sorts. What do you think about that?"

Kenzie and Terry looked at one another, then back at me.

"I still think it's going to be a bit dodgy." Kenzie replied.

"How so?"

"Well… Terry doesn't have that great of a reputation here, no matter which side of the law we're referring to. I don't know a single person outside of work. It would be sort of pointless to go about calling ourselves private investigators or consulting detectives when we clearly don't know what we're doing, aside from you guiding us. Most importantly… _How_ are we supposed to announce ourselves for hire? Create a website or a blog?"

"That's actually a fantastic idea."

Kenzie looked over at Watson, then back at Terry.

"Are you interested in this?"

Terry shrugged. "It'll give us something to do. Besides… We could use some extra cash."

"Alas, it's settled. Let's go back to the flat and start this website or blog or whatever it's called. I wonder if… Could one of you grab that flier? Ah, thank you. As I was saying…"

"More like rambling." Watson stated.

"Silence, Watson. I was merely trying to think out loud. I wonder if Lestrade is anywhere to be found these days? Ah, well. I'm sure we'll encounter him sooner or later."

"But if Lestrade is here, what are the chances Anderson made it, as well?" Watson asked.

"Watson… Never mention that name when I'm trying to think… You know he was always most irritating detective, and I use that term lightly, and he never shut up. He had the ability to lower the IQ of all of London."


	9. Chapter 8

_There was an absurd amount of pounding on the door of the flat. Kenzie was grumbling in annoyance, whereas Terry had just stumbled out of her room and was looking around confusedly._

"_Please tell me the cops aren't looking for you." Kenzie stated._

"_Nope. Haven't pissed up their tailpipes recently." Terry replied._

"_How about the Irish mob?" Kenzie asked._

_Terry scratched her head. "Um… I'm not too sure of that one… Would you mind grabbing the door?"_

_Kenzie rolled her eyes and mumbled to herself as she pushed out of the chair and stomped over to the door._

"_You can open the door, Kenzie. Nothing to be afraid of." Holmes commented._

"_Is there any reason why you couldn't say so in the first place?" Terry questioned, making Holmes wave a dismissive hand. _

_Kenzie opened the door. "Hello there."_

"_Bryant & Hawes," The timid voice asked, watching as Kenzie nodded in confirmation. "My name is Roger Jones. I saw your website about possibly hiring private detectives?"_

_At that point, Terry stormed over to the door and hip-checked Kenzie to the side. "Scotchland girl! Don't you know it's rude to conduct business in the hallway," Terry looked from Kenzie to a very wide-eyed Roger Jones. "Hi there! I'm Terry Bryant. I must apologize for my partner. She just got off of the malaria boat from Scotchland. Barely speaks a word of American… I programmed her with subtitles. Anyway, please come in and tell us all about your problem. Wait. On second thought… They have psychiatrists you can hire for that. What I meant to say was come in and tell us what you want to hire us for."_

"_Oh… Very stylish." Holmes groaned, watching as Terry ushered Roger in._

"_Trained her right." I commented._

_Holmes glared at me. "Notice how __**your**__ ward is sitting on the floor."_

"_Your "ward" is a rude…"_

"_Ahem," The sudden disgusting and ridiculously rude notion made Holmes and I stop, mid-argument, and look over at Terry. "This is my partner, Kenzie Hawes."_

"_Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jones." Kenzie was, at least, polite enough to shake the man's hand._

"_Pleasure is all mine, Miss Hawes… Miss Bryant," A simple not in Terry's direction had her smiling. "Now, I sincerely hope you can help me."_

"_Offer him a drink. Non-alcoholic." I stated._

"_Don't you dare! This is not a shelter!" Holmes hissed._

"_It's called being polite, you buffoon!" _

"_Ugh! You and your name-calling! Fine! Offer him a drink! See if I care!"_

"_Would you like something to drink, Mr. Jones?" Kenzie inquired. _

"_No thank you, Miss Hawes." _

"_Told you." Holmes mumbled._

"_Shut. Up." I growled._

"_What seems to be the problem, Mr. Rogers?" Terry asked._

_Holmes and I slapped our foreheads in unison._

"_That's, um… Roger Jones, Miss Bryant." Roger corrected._

"_That's what I said, Mr. Joan Rogers," Terry poured herself a shot of scotch, ignored the look of horror and annoyance on Kenzie's face, and looked back over at her hopefully-running-out-of-the-flat-screaming-ex possible client. "You were saying?"_

"_Right. Well. Several weeks ago, my wife and I purchased a rare necklace from an auction…"_

"_Ah. You're one of __**those**__." Holmes grumbled._

"…_And it was in spectacular condition. We had it in a shadowbox in our display room."_

"_If you got it, flaunt it. Annoying American slime." Holmes chimed in._

"…_And It seems that the necklace is cursed or something. Anyone who touches the shadowbox seemingly disappears."_

"_Maybe your kindness towards valuable items made them realize you're a crazy bastard who isn't worth their time." Holmes offered._

"_How are you telling this story, then?" Terry asked._

"_Because he's an idiot!" Holmes shouted._

"_Anyone who doesn't own it, I mean."_

"…_Right. Well, I think you should contact Sam and Dean Winchester, 'cause this shit sounds right up their alley…"_

"_I wasn't finished, Miss Bryant!"_

"_My bad."_

"_My son has vanished, along with the necklace."_

"_Bummer."_

"_Ask if he received a ransom note." Holmes stated, sitting forward on his chair, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his head on his hands. _

"_Have you received a ransom note?" Kenzie asked._

"_Sort of…"_

"_Pardon?"_

"_Well… It doesn't mention any sum of money. It just contains strange riddles… But I want my son back. That's why I'm here to hire you."_

"_How much bread are we talking?" Terry asked._

"_You're incredibly rude!" Kenzie and I shouted in unison._

"_That was odd." Holmes stated._

"_Shut it." I grumbled._

"_It's quite alright, Miss Hawes. If I were just starting out in your business, I would wonder about cash, as well. I'll pay you $20,000 for the safe return of my son, plus the proceeds of the sale of the necklace."_

"_How much is that necklace worth?" Terry questioned, raising an eyebrow._

"_An interested party offered me six digits for it."_

"…_What?"_

"_Six digits, Miss Bryant."_

"_There's no way in hell we can accept that much money." Kenzie stated._

"_Spoil sport." Holmes mumbled._

"_Honest soldier." I retorted. _

"_Yes, you can, Miss Hawes. And you will. This is my son I'm talking about."_

"_It's a deal, Mr. James!"_

"_Thank you so very much, Miss… What did you just call me?"_

"_James. As in Rick James. That's your name, right?"_

"_Um… No."_

"_Awesome! Can you please say 'I'm Rick James, bitch?'"_

"_Miss Bryant, I…"_

"_If you say it, she'll shut up." Kenzie offered._

"_Fine," Roger sighed. "I'm Rick James, bitch."_

_Terry laughed. "Oh, that was gold. Alright, we'll take the case. We'll need the riddles and all of the other information you have."_

_Roger held out a folder. "I brought it all with me."_

"_Wonderful! Well, we'd better get cracking on this," Terry grabbed the folder and put it down on the table. "Thank you. Bye bye."_

_Roger stood, shook Terry's hand hesitantly, and allowed Kenzie to lead him to the door._

"_How long have you been here?"_

"_Three weeks."_

"_How have you survived this long? She's insane."_

"_I wish I could tell you… I'm sorry about Terry… She's… Eccentric."_

"_That's an understatement."_

"_Yeah. Well, thanks again, Mr. Jones. We'll phone you if anything comes up."_

_Roger Jones exited the flat. _

"_I wish I could kill the two of you! Oh my God. Banter, banter, banter. You're like an old dead married couple!" Terry shouted._

"_I was going to congratulate you on your first case, but now I don't want to." Holmes pouted._

"_Oh, cheer up. It's Christmas." I stated._

_Holmes turned to Kenzie. "Female I don't hate right now… Be a dear and please remove the contents of the folder. Spread them out so I can read them."_

_Everyone watched as Kenzie did just as Holmes asked._

"_Now what?"_


	10. Chapter 9

Better Than Before

Chapter 9

"Okay, watch this."

Watson, Kenzie and I watched, disgustedly, as Terry tucked and rolled, then sprang up and threw herself against the wall of the abandoned warehouse we were standing in front of.

"...How very impressive of you." Watson complimented.

"Your turn, Kenzie."

Kenzie narrowed her eyes angrily and casually walked to where Terry was standing and gaping at her.

"Just because you think this is a comic book or some type of action movie, it doesn't mean I have to go along with every single one of your plans."

"Your sense of responsibility irritates me."

"And your lack of maturity is one for the records."

Watson and I looked at one another. How some things never change.

The search for little Timothy Jones brought us to the edge of the city, in one of the many mostly abandoned warehouses that probably once served the majority of the New Yorkers who lived there. Roger Jones was more than elated when Kenzie called him with the news - that being we _think_ we found his son - and urged us to take action as soon as humanly possible.

That was fifteen minutes ago, and now Watson and I found ourselves reliving the old days back in London.

"Okay, well, according to my schizophrenic delusion, the kid should be on the fifth floor. I was thinking maybe we can repel from the roof."

Kenzie whirled around to face her. "Are you bloody serious!? We want to rescue this child, not scare him even more!"

"Who said he's frightened?" I asked.

Watson turned to look at me. "Who said he isn't?"

"Touché."

"Look, Kenzie, I'm just saying... We need to have the element of surprise."

"I know that, Terry, but that doesn't mean we have to repel from the damn roof. That's too dangerous... And it's opening up a gap for not only error, but fast retaliation. One of us can go in from the door, and the other can use the fire escape."

"It looks too rusty." Watson observed.

"Okay, Kenzie can go in through the door. I'll take the fire escape."

"I said 'it looks too rusty.' As in maybe you shouldn't think about using the fire escape at all." Watson stated, fixing Terry with a cold glare.

"Let me worry about that," Terry turned to look at Kenzie. "Are you ready for this, Scotch?"

"Let's do it, Guinness."

They high-fived one another and marched off in different directions. Kenzie located the front door of the building and carefully let herself in, whereas Terry made her way over to the alley next to the warehouse and started making her way up the fire escape. Although severely rusty, the fire escape held her weight as she quickly climbed the steps to the fifth floor.

"I never expected those two to mesh so well in such a short amount of time." I remarked.

Watson turned to look at me. "Nobody expected us to get along, being from different backgrounds and living different lives... People change when they live together."

"Indeed, my dear Watson."

* * *

It was easier for the two of us to follow Kenzie, so we did. By the time we caught up with her, she was on the fifth floor and was crouched low to the ground, pistol drawn and ready.

"See anything yet?" Watson asked.

She nodded her head no, then moved forward, nudging with her head for us to follow her. Watson and I spread out onto either side and looked around the room. It was rather large for an older warehouse. Then again, I regret to admit that I'm not very familiar with New York City warehouses. Then again, there were several rather old warehouses back in London, the one at Nine Elms, especially.

My mental rambling was brought to a halt when I saw a small figure curled into a ball in the far corner of the room. "Mackenzie!"

The girl, thankfully, decided to respond to the use of her full name, and ran over to me with Watson close behind. She knelt down and checked for a pulse.

"He's fine."

"Is that the child, though?" Watson asked.

Kenzie pulled out her phone and looked at the picture Roger Jones had sent her. "I'd say so... Where the hell is Terry?"

As if right on cue, my overzealous charge bursted through the window, tucked and rolled once she hit the floor, and landed in a perfect crouching position. The fact she had pulled her hood up to protect her head from the glass made her look like some kind of Batman wannabe.

"Where are they?" She questioned, brushing glass off of her shoulders as she stood up and approached us.

"Are you having fun imitating a vigilante?" I inquired.

She quirked an eyebrow at me, then smiled. "Did that at least look cool?"

"Your noisy entrance probably alerted anyone who is passing by, and we don't need them to catch us here with the boy and assume we kidnapped him... So we might want to get a move on it." I replied.

Terry groaned, then spun on her heels and started marching away, heading towards the door to leave. Kenzie carefully picked up the child, who was holding onto the stolen necklace, and followed suit. Watson and I trailed after them, deciding it was wise to give them some space. After all, they had just (technically) solved their first case.

By the time we got outside, the little boy woke up and looked around confusedly. "Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Kenzie, and that's my friend Terry." Kenzie replied, smiling down at him sweetly.

"I'm Timmy Jones. Are you taking me home?"

"You bet we are, kiddo."

* * *

"Holmes! Dr. Watson! Fancy seeing you here!"

I visibly cringed and turned to look at the source of the voice, putting a smile on my face. "Detective Lestrade! So _nice_ to see you made it this far."

"Cut down the sarcasm, boy-o."

"Funny that your charge is a Sergeant in the police force." Watson gestured to the cop who was filling out the report in the Jones home, sitting across the table from Roger and Timothy.

"Yeah... Gotta start somewhere." Lestrade replied, a huge smile overtaking his features.

"And you said the boy was in an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the city?" The Sergeant asked, pointing his pen at Kenzie and Terry, who were standing off to the side.

"Yes, sir." Kenzie replied.

"How did you know he was there?"

"We saw the boy through the broken window." Terry was quick to reply.

"From where? The roof of the other building?" The Sergeant asked.

"Yes." Kenzie and Terry replied in unison.

"Now _that_ was scary."

The Sergeant finished filling out his report in silence, still slightly skeptic about the story Terry had made up for him. However, instead of challenging, he kept his mouth shut and continued doing his job, then bid everyone farewell and left, taking Lestrade with him.

"Thank heavens he's gone." I remarked.

"Holmes!"

Roger stood up and turned to face Kenzie and Terry. "Thank you, ladies, so much for bringing my little boy back to me. You couldn't possibly understand how I felt while he was missing, and it means the world to me that he's fine. As promised, here is your reward."

Roger handed the envelope to Kenzie, who took it with a smile on her face. "You're very welcome, and thank you for this."

"So you didn't find me on accident?" Timmy asked.

"No, Timmy. I hired them to find you." Roger replied, making Timmy turn to look at him.

"Why?"

"That's a story for later," Roger turned to look at Kenzie and Terry again. "Once again, thank you. I'll never be able to thank you enough!"

"It was a pleasure." Kenzie replied.

* * *

On our way back to the flat, we passed by a construction wall with a plethora of fliers advertising anything from local artists to celebrities. Kenzie's attention was snagged by a single flier.

"Scotch?" Terry asked.

Kenzie looked at her, then pointed back at the flier. "That just seems so familiar from somewhere. Can't figure it out, though."

Watson, Terry and I crowded around her to take a look at the flier, which was the only one of its kind on the wall. It was a symbol. A depiction of a triangle with a calligraphy-style 'R' coming out of the right side of it.

"Fire of Reverberation. That's a first," I remarked, leaning forward to observe the symbol better. "Are you familiar with Alchemy or something?" I inquired, turning to look at Kenzie.

"No. I just know the symbol from somewhere... That's all."

"Hmmm... Well, that's an interesting symbol to be familiar with... Time to retreat to your mind palace to see if you can figure out where you might know it from."

"I think I know where it's from," Watson piped up. "Kenzie... Your father has this as a tattoo."


	11. Chapter 10

Better Than Before  
Chapter 10

_Holmes and I are currently stationed in the far corner of the Stardust Diner, a quaint little place where the waiters and waitresses randomly burst into song to entertain the guests, located in Times Square. Kenzie had applied for a second job, since being a bartender wasn't cutting it for her. Terry had followed suit, immediately after being fired from Staples. The two were almost inseparable, which was quite odd, given their completely different upbringings and views on life, but one could only assume they have Holmes and I to thank for that._

_The girls have been receiving at least three cases a week since their successful first case, which they have taken to refer to as The Jones Case... Although Holmes refers to it as the 'Partially Solved Case,' solely because the person who stole the necklace and kidnapped young Timothy Jones was never found and brought to justice. Kenzie argued that the New York City Police Department should do their job and find the culprit on their own, but Holmes informed her that they were hired by Timothy's father, therefore they should see it through to the very end and hunt the man down themselves. Terry was kind enough to point out the father hired them to return the boy and the necklace. Holmes sulked in the unused walk-in closet space for three and a half days after that, only coming out when Terry decided to go bar-hopping._

_It was mid-day and the girls looked absolutely miserable. They looked ridiculously bored, as well. Holmes was rocking on his heels, and I doubt his anxiousness was fairing well on Terry, who had taken to mirror Holmes' movements when she wasn't needed on the floor._

_"Holmes, stop that!" I growled, earning a strange look from the man in question._

_"Oh hush, Watson. It's not like anyone can see us..."_

_"Other than the two women who work here, you mean? Your anxious energy is driving Terry up the wall. Calm down, lad."_

_Holmes looked over at his ward for the first time all day and noticed she was rocking on her heels, seemingly inching closer to Kenzie to try and talk. He sighed and stopped rocking, making Terry slowly do the same. She looked relieved when she made it to Kenzie and the two started whispering amongst themselves. Holmes and I walked over to them to see if they were going to discuss the details of their most recent case, which was sitting mostly unnoticed and unsolved in their flat._

_"This is the last time those two are coming to work with us. It's insufferable!" Terry stated, earning a nod in agreement from Kenzie._

_"I feel bad leaving them alone in the flat all day, but I'm almost positive they can come up with something to do... Oh. Hey, boys."_

_Terry looked at us from the corner of her eye and sighed again. "Can you please keep calm, schizophrenic delusion? You're driving me insane."_

_"I offer my sincerest apologizes, Terry. This... Stuffy atmosphere is doing no good for my genius intellect. I have to get out of here and... Pace around elsewhere."_

_"Why? Do you sense something is up?" I inquired, raising a slightly concerned eyebrow._

_"I assume one could say such a thing, although I'm completely unsure as to the legitimacy of it. I just feel cramped in here, and I wish to enter my mind palace in another location... The most recent case is most interesting. I see by the looks on your faces, you haven't given it much thought."_

_"It's hard to give anything thought when I technically work all day." Kenzie replied through gritted teeth._

_"Scotch is right. I don't think you ever had a job while doing your consulting detective stint, so I'd think it'd be best for you to get off of our backs a little. It's only our second week in business. We've solved about six cases. I haven't had a drink since 10 AM. What more do you want from us?"_

_"Total concentration when I ask for it! I cannot converse with people about specifics, nor can I move things around as I desire. I need the two of you to do it for me, and it is outright frustrating!" Holmes shouted, stomping his right foot on the ground._

_Surprisingly, a glass fell from the shelf and smashed into pieces once it connected with the floor._

_Kenzie and Terry eyed one another warily, then Kenzie knelt over to clean up the glass before any of the managers came around and noticed. Terry continued staring at Holmes in awe._

_I reached over to my dearest friend and put an assuring hand on his shoulder. "It's quite alright, old chap. Terry and Kenzie are the best parts of us. They'll do what you ask when they have the time for it, of that I can assure you... Just be patient. I know you and patience don't mix, but right now, you need to trust me. I promise the case will get solved."_

_Holmes looked up at me and offered a small smile, which I took as an agreement to what I had said. His face suddenly became emotionless as he whirled around to face the television in the dining area._

_"Ask someone to turn the volume up!" He shouted, making his way towards the television._

_Terry, Kenzie and I followed him._

_"Can someone turn that up?" Terry asked, her voice surprisingly kind for someone of her nature._

_"...With breaking news. It is being brought to our attention that an armored Brinks truck was driven off of the road by several unmarked black trucks, two of which were escorting the truck to a secure location. It is unknown if anyone was killed, or what the contents of the truck were, but police are reporting a mysterious symbol was spray-painted on the truck shortly after it crashed..."_

_Sure enough, a depiction of a triangle with a calligraphy-style 'R' coming out of the right side of it popped up on the screen._

_"...The symbol's origins are unknown, although similar sightings of the symbol have been reported during the course of the day. Earlier this morning, a warehouse outside of Washington D.C. caught fire, and witnesses say the fire started as the symbol seen on your screen..."_

_"Fire of Reverberation." Holmes deducted._

_"That's the second time we've seen that symbol... What could it mean?" I asked._

_"Well, the first appearance of the symbol was seemingly harmless... It was just a tag on a wall. A lot of people do that, and I, for one, don't think it can be connected to anything that goes on... It was probably just mere coincidence."_

_"But you don't believe in coincidence." I pointed out._

_"Hush, Watson, I'm rambling. Now... This occurrence is a lot more hostile than a simple tag on a littered wall. Whoever this... Fire of Reverberation tag belongs to... Is trying to make a point. They're trying to make people notice them. I'm afraid things are going to get messy from now on. We have to keep an eye out for anything with the Fire of Reverberation symbol on it. Is that understood?"_

_The girls nodded their consent, then went back to work._

_"Holmes... What I said when we first saw it... Kenzie's father has a tattoo of the Fire of Reverberation."_

_"Let's hope it's a coincidence, old friend." Holmes remarked, still staring at the television._

_"But..."_

_"Watson... How long have you known Kenzie?"_

_"Her whole life."_

_Holmes finally turned to look at me. "Right, and, in that time, do you honestly think her father was planning on doing anything extreme? A lot of people get tattoos of things they perceive to be as cool looking. Maybe her father had a thing for Alchemy. I don't know, nor do I care. What I do care about is trying to figure out who the hell is so obsessed with the Fire of Reverberation symbol, what their purpose is and why the hell they did what they did today."_

_I sighed, glancing back at Kenzie and Terry. "Let's hope you're right, old chap..."_


	12. Chapter 11

Better Than Before  
Chapter 11

The news about the appearance of the Fire of Reverberation symbol continued to make headlines for the next week or so.

The girls, to my approval, caught the kidnapper and would-be thief from their first case, (completely on accident mind you), and finally focused on their sixth case, which wasn't much of a problem at all.

Their ninth and most recent case was most intriguing. A man by the name of Gordon Everson went missing after leaving his mothers home in Tribeca to go to a job interview. The mother didn't mention where the job interview was, nor did she mention a time. It was a big reason why the girls wanted to drop the case before they even started investigating... But it was a big reason why I wanted to pursue it.

"Maybe he left New York... You honestly don't think this is really worth our time, do you?" Terry asked, speaking in a hushed voice.

The Stardust Diner has become the bane of our collective existence.

I grumbled angrily and turned to look at her. "I don't think he left the City."

"How would you know, old chap? The mother didn't give much information to go on." Watson stated.

"Let alone give us clues for a decent investigation." Kenzie added.

I sighed. "I know... But there's something about this one that tells me it'll be worth it..."

Kenzie and Terry glanced at one another.

"What do you think, Scotch?"

"I don't think it's worth it, to be honest... But, if Holmes says it is, then we should probably listen to him..."

"Aha! An intelligent female!" I exclaimed, earning disgusted glares from both women.

"I'd watch what you say, if I were you... We could always just ignore you and dismiss the case..."

I couldn't help but glare. "This whole consulting detective thing was my idea. You ladies are earning more money because of me. So, if you choose to ignore my wishes, I'll..."

"Continue." Terry stated, arms crossed over her chest.

I tucked my hands behind my back and stalked over to to the window of the diner. "I'm afraid I have nothing more to add to my statement."

Watson tapped his cane on the ground. "So... Where do we start?"

There was an uncomfortable silence between the four of us. "I guess we look into Everson's friends and whatnot? I mean, someone had to know what job he was applying for."

"So, we definitely are taking the case?" Terry questioned.

"As I said before, if Holmes thinks there's something here, then there most likely is." Kenzie replied.

"I sure hope the two of you are right. Sure looks like we'll be chasing a ghost... No pun intended, of course..."

"Hawes, table twelve!" A hostess, whose name is either Amanda or Gabrielle, shouted, making Kenzie and Terry jump.

"Yeah, sure. Be back in a few." Kenzie stated and walked over to the floor.

"I thought twelve was your table?" Terry asked.

The hostess looked over at her and nodded. "It is... I just can't understand him for the life of me... He's either English or Irish or something, but his accent is super thick."

"Ask her if it sounds Scottish!" Watson shouted.

"Would it be Scottish, by any chance?" Terry questioned.

"Um... Maybe... Wait, yeah."

I watched Watson take off towards the floor and followed him to see what the fuss was.

"Hello, sir, welcome to Stardust Diner. My name is Kenzie and I'll be your waitress today. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Mackenzie...?"

The Calton accent almost made Watson and I collide. Terry's eyes widened to the size of saucers... Good girl didn't need a hint to know what was going on.

Kenzie dropped her waitress pad in complete shock. "Da?!"


	13. Chapter 12

Better Than Before  
Chapter 12

_Holmes, Terry and I stared at Kenzie and her father, the miserable waste of space known as Daniel Hawes, in silence. We couldn't believe what we were looking at. I can be quite sure when I say I highly doubted Kenzie would ever lay eyes on her father again. The man was good at disappearing. If he didn't want to be found, nobody would find him. When he left Scotland before Kenzie returned from the war, I was positive he wanted to vanish for good._

_This reunion is probably a hell of a lot more of a shock to Kenzie than it is to me._

_"Da...?" Kenzie wordlessly repeated._

_"Yes, Mackenzie. It's me."_

_Kenzie covered her mouth with her left hand. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there were tears in her eyes._

_"Watson? What shall we do? We can't just stand around and allow this to happen."_

_I turned to face Holmes with a scowl on my face. "Excuse me? What the devil are you on about, old boy?"_

_"You're the one who always says you hope she never finds her father because he's a no good son of a bitch. Because he's going to distract her from her work. Because she's going to want to take him by the arm and go skipping back to Scotland."_

_"That's enough." I warned._

_"What," Terry mumbled, turning to look at us. "She can't go back to Scotland!"_

_Terry threw nervous glances over her shoulders, even though nobody was close enough to hear her._

_"I agree. She's much more useful here." Holmes stated._

_"You're only saying that because I'm her ghost guardian." I retorted._

_"I don't care. I've grown quite fond of her. She's helped me convince Terry that I am not a schizophrenic delusion, so of course I want to keep her around..."_

_"Shh!"_

_"Aren't you going to give your da a hug?"_

_Kenzie took a step away from the table her father was sitting in, allowing Holmes, Terry and I to get a good view of him. He hadn't changed a bit from what I remember... Same tattered black cabby hat, black pea coat and pale complexion. Looking at him now made me want to beat some sense into him, but years of trying to hit him taught me one thing: it's not worth the hours of pain afterwards._

_"Why did you decide it would be a good idea to leave Scotland for *here* before I came home from Iraq? Is there any reason you couldn't wait for me? Or at least write a letter? I had to hear from Aidan Cummings that you were gone and mum was dead."_

_"I wanted to..."_

_"You *wanted* to? Well, you probably should have, shouldn't you?! If Andrew were alive, you would have waited."_

_"If Andrew were alive, you never would have left your mum and I for the military and we wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place!"_

_Holmes grabbed my shoulders to hold me in place._

_"Perhaps I'm not the one you should be concerned about stopping, old cock."_

_"Shit. Terry!"_

_Too late._

_"Excuse me! Hi, my name is Terry Bryant. I work here. I believe in being kind to our customers, but you have to get the fuck out of here. Right now. Before I bash your damn head in."_

_"Pardon me?" Kenzie's father asked._

_"Terry..."_

_"No, Kenzie. He's being rude to you and yelling at you in front of everyone in here. I'm all for talking quietly, which is what you were doing, but I'm not going to stand back at he yells at you about personal family stuff in front of the other customers and workers."_

_Kenzie's father stood up and got in Terry's face._

_"If I were you, Terry Bryant, I would turn around and march your ass back to wherever it is you came from. Mackenzie is my daughter, and we're going to handle things on our own."_

_Terry glared. "If you were a good father, you would know she hates it when people call her 'Mackenzie.'" Terry retorted and stomped away._

_Holmes and I watched as she stormed passed us. I nodded at Holmes, allowing him to know it was okay if he was going to go talk to her. It allowed me the opportunity to sneak closer to Kenzie and her father._

_"Da..."_

_"Who was that little bitch, anyway?"_

_"Terry. She's my flat mate."_

_"Oh? You're into flat share now?"_

_"I'm here looking for you. And now that I found you, can we please go home?"_

_"No."_

_I let out a sigh of relief._

_"Why not?" Kenzie asked._

_"I've gotten myself into something, and I don't want to get out of it right now. It's going to be good, I promise. I'm going to make you proud of me."_

_"Sir?"_

_Kenzie and her dad looked up at two officers who had either walked in recently or were present for the whole argument._

_"Yes?"_

_"We need to escort you from the diner. Come quietly, please."_

_The officers put a hand on each elbow and started leading Kenzie's dad towards the door._

_"Wait," Kenzie shouted, making the three men stop. She ran over to them and jotted something down on a piece of paper. "Here's my number, da. Call me if you need me."_

_"I will, Mackenzie."_


	14. Chapter 13

Better Than Before  
Chapter 13

Sitting in the quiet flat that evening was excruciatingly awkward. Nobody said a word.

Kenzie was sitting in the far corner, eyes cast down, as if ashamed of everything that went on in Stardust Diner earlier today. She hadn't said a word since the police took her father from the diner. Terry, on the other hand, was rambling on about how she would 'knock that Scottish bastards lights out if he went near Kenzie again' for a whole hour, trying to get Kenzie to say something, but failing miserably. She decided to stop talking once they got back to the flat after work.

I knew something was up the minute she pushed a bottle of Jack Daniels as far away from herself as her arm would allow.

I looked over at Watson and nudged my head. He understood what I wanted.

"We'll be back." I announced. Terry grunted in acknowledgment, whereas Kenzie didn't make a noise.

Watson and I relocated to the roof of the apartment complex, somewhere we knew the girls couldn't follow us.

"What now, old chap?" Watson asked.

If we weren't dead, or undead, for that matter, I would have told Watson he looked exhausted. He sounded like he hadn't slept in years, which might have been true, but it shouldn't matter when it comes to who we are now.

"I'm afraid I don't know, dear fellow. The appearance of Kenzie's father sure has put a damper on things..."

Watson sighed. "I know. I can see how much it's bothering her."

"Being silent about it isn't helping matters. It's making it worse."

"We were the same way, old chap."

I bit my cheek and paced for awhile. Watson was right, but this is no time to dwell on the past. I tell him that much, making him nod in agreement. Before he can reply, a strange looking fellow closely resembling the deceased young man on the second floor appears and tentatively approaches us.

"Uhm. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson?"

"Yes?" Watson asks.

"The Scottish one asked me to come up here and get you."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah, she said you two like to come up here when you leave the room."

"How did she know that?" Watson asked.

The man shrugged. "Not sure. Said she bets it's because it's the closest place the two of you can go that her and the other one can't."

I looked over at Watson, impressed with his ward. "At least someone has decent deduction skills."

"Holmes."

"What? I deserve to be somewhat happy about such a thing."

"I believe there's a reason why this man decided to pay us a visit."

"Right," I paused, turning my attention back to the stranger. "Now what was so important that made Kenzie ask you to look for us?"

The man shifted his weight from leg to leg, almost as if he was extremely uncomfortable with what he was about to say. "Kenzie..? Is that the Scottish one?"

Watson rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"Oh. What a nice name."

"Stop stalling, good sir. My patience is wearing thin." I announced.

The man jumped, seemingly scared of my sudden tone. "The Irish one left!" He shouted, blending the words together.

Watson is a mere second too late in trying to grab me as I storm passed him and up to the other man. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to me.

"What?!" I shouted.

"Holmes!"

"I-I don't know anything, I swear! All I know is she said the Irish one left! Said something about a bar on Fifth!"

I continued glaring. Had he not been dead, I would have thrown him into the wall and started beating him. If I did that now, he'd simply go through the wall and wind up gliding down the stairs until he reached the landing.

"Holmes." Watson warned.

I sighed and released the man. "Thank you for your service to Mackenzie."

The man looked over at Watson, raising a confused eyebrow.

"What's your name, chap?" Watson asked.

"Spencer Tate."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Doctor John Watson, and that's Sherlock Holmes. You're from the second floor, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right, that's all good and well. Go back there. We'll be sure to look for you if we require your assistance in the future." I stated.

"But..."

"You clearly have free roam of the complex, so you're most likely able to leave it at will. We might require some assistance in the future, and since we are now acquaintances, I hope we can rely on your willingness to assist us. Now, if you will, Watson and I have business to tend to and we no longer require your services. We'll inform Mackenzie of your job well done, and I'll express her gratitude towards you at this moment, since I refuse to look for you at a later time."

Spencer stared at me, blinking confusedly. "I'm guessing the Irish one is your ward."

"Terry. Her name is Terry. And yes. She is."

Spencer nodded, an odd twinkle in his eye, almost as if he understood something I did not. "Right. Well. Good luck."

He was gone without another word.

I turned to look at Watson when I heard him chuckling. "_What_ is so funny?"

"Nothing, old boy."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but Watson was never an easy egg to crack. "Come, Watson. We have a lost female to find,"

Watson sighed, making me stop mid-way on my way to the stairs.

"What?" I asked, without even turning to look at him.

"_You_ have a female to find, old friend. I have to stay behind and talk to Kenzie."

I did what Watson once referred to as 'bristling my feathers,' and huffed in annoyance. I turned to look at him and stalked forward, stopping only mere inches away from him, glaring angrily when my eyes were level with his throat and I had to look up at him.

"You mean to tell me that you're going to stay behind with your perfectly safe, if not slightly depressed, ward, whereas I have to go out in search for the one who is most likely in danger?!"

Watson nodded his head calmly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "My old friend, I lack the ability to disappear and reappear wherever your charge is. You're the only one who can do that,"

I suddenly felt smaller than I did a moment ago. He was right, curse him, and it made me angry. So angry that I may or may not have caused the light closest to us to explode.

"I take it you agree with me?"

"Yes." I mumbled.

"Then go get her, Holmes. I'm sure she's fine. If not, come back to the flat and let us know. We'll help you. I promise."

I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to locate Terry in this enormous city. It's nearly impossible, and it makes me slightly nervous. I would never admit it to Watson. The anxiousness, the fear that I would never be able to locate my ward again in this, the city that never sleeps.

Leave it to me to be stuck here during my would-be afterlife.

I crack an eye open and see I'm still standing on the roof. However, this time, I'm alone. I close my eyes once again, this time being thrown through an invisible tunnel and landing right next to Terry, who is sitting on a stool at some bar down on Fifth, just like Spencer Tate said Kenzie had told him.

I sighed in relief. She was fine, just like Watson had said.

I stood next to her, staring, remaining silent. If we had met when Watson and I were free to walk the Earth as we pleased, I don't have any doubts that I would have tried to court this woman. I know very little about romance and feelings, but I know how to _deduce_, and my deductions are very rarely incorrect. It was something I could never tell Watson, even though I'm almost positive he's already figured it out.

I feel like that one blue-eyed angel on that television show Kenzie can't stop watching. (Dean and Sam's Excellent Adventure..? Angels of our Lives..?) How he raised the one brother from hell and followed him everywhere, saving him from danger and repeatedly dying for him. How obvious it was the angel loved him, how they spoke to one another without using words, how the angel rebelled against heaven for him without a second thought... The love is obvious, but never mentioned. It would be blasphemous for the angel, I think his name is Castiel, to say such a thing. On second thought, he probably doesn't even know what love is... He just feels a need to serve and protect the person he rescued from hell.

Curse my mind for rambling on and on about some fictional television show Kenzie is obsessed with and constantly sobbing over. However, I do have to admit, that if I hadn't thought of that ridiculous show and the scenarios the characters find themselves in, I don't think I ever would have realized something... And how important it is to say it.

I'm in love with Terry Bryant.

* * *

**A/N - I'm so sorry for the delayed update! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as well as my reference to one of my favorite television shows. I should also say that I don't really ship Destiel, but I can sense so much freaking tension between the two that it's not even funny. I figured that, if Sherlock was even able to pick up on it, then it would help to reference it here.**


	15. Chapter 14

Better Than Before  
Chapter 14

_When I got back to the flat, Kenzie was sitting in the same exact spot she was in when I left._

_"I thought you would have moved by now." I remarked._

_Kenzie looked over at me and tilted her head slightly. "Why would you think that?"_

_I tapped my cane on the floor and shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know. Maybe because you got a hold of Spencer Tate?"_

_"Who?"_

_"The man from the second floor..?"_

_Kenzie sighed. "I needed help, and I'm well aware I can't get onto the roof."_

_"Why did you need help? Did Terry say she was going to the bar?"_

_"No. She left without saying anything..."_

_"So the bar was a guess?"_

_"Not really. I've known her long enough to know where she's going to be at any given time. She's mad, so the bar on Fifth is the perfect place to forget why she's angry... Why is she mad, by the way?"_

_I sat down opposite Kenzie and looked her in the eyes. "I don't know... Maybe because you haven't spoken a word since the two of you got off of work? She knows what'll happen if your father comes knocking, Kenzie."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Yes. You'll just leave with him and not look back."_

_Kenzie looked down at the floor, then looked back up at me. She sighed and sat back in her chair, turning to look out the window._

_"Da is the only family I have left..."_

_"The man is a no good bastard, Kenzie. If he cared about you, he wouldn't have upped and left you while you were still serving. If he cared about you, he would have had the decency to __**tell**__ you your mother had died and he was leaving. But, no. He left that for you to find out. You're lucky Aidan was still waiting for you."_

_"Yeah, and I left Aidan to come here and get my da back, only to find out that he's 'into something' and he 'doesn't want to leave yet.' How do you think that makes me feel? To know I had to leave the only friend I had in favor of someone who abandoned me?"_

_"You have a life here!" I shouted._

_"You're only saying that because you found Sherlock Holmes and you don't want to leave him."_

_I narrowed my eyes angrily. That was a perfectly aimed low blow. I have to admit, there was a lot of truth to her statement, but it didn't give her the right to use it._

_"Although that may be true, you have to seriously think about what you're saying. Your father has caused you nothing but aggravation. He abandoned you, just as you said. Yet you still want to choose him over your new life in America? You have an amazing job here, and you'll never find that in Scotland."_

_"Maybe I just miss -"_

_By the time I was able to get Kenzie to look me in the eyes, she wasn't interested in continuing her train of thought. I had an idea of what she was going to say, but I wanted to hear her say it._

_Several minutes went by before I felt like talking again. Kenzie had a way of saying things that legitimately hurt my feelings and made me not want to speak to her. However, I was concerned about her... Especially after the events that took place in Stardust Diner earlier today._

_"I think Holmes has a little bit of a problem..." I stated, making Kenzie look over at me again._

_"Oh?"_

_"Yes. I think it's very obvious that -"_

_"Holmes is in love with Terry?"_

_I quirked an eyebrow at Kenzie. "How did you figure that out?"_

_Kenzie shrugged her shoulders. "Same way you did, probably... I just think it's obvious."_

_I tapped my chin with my hand. "And what should we do about it?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"We have to do something. We can't allow Holmes to just... Fall in__** love**__ with Terry."_

_"Why not?"_

_I leaned forward in my chair so fast, I thought I was going to fall off. "What the bloody hell do you mean 'why not'?! Holmes isn't __**alive**__ any more, Kenzie! Terry is very much alive. We can't allow Holmes to fall in love with someone who isn't going to exist on this planet for as long as he is... It won't do him any good."_

_Kenzie shrugged. "At least he's emotionally attached to __**something**__."_

_I stared at her for a moment, then realized what she was saying... If Holmes remained emotionally attached to Terry, he would help her in any way possible, especially when it comes to helping her stay the way she is now. And if he's successful, Terry will want Kenzie to stay almost as much as I want Kenzie to stay._

_So we kind of have a chance at staying in America._

_"Point." I finally remarked._

_Kenzie looked over at the door when it opened, raised an eyebrow when Terry stumbled in, shut the door and went straight to her room, then looked at Holmes as he walked in and stopped next to me._

_"Problem?" Holmes inquired._

_"Not at all." I replied._

_Holmes huffed and spun on his heels. He started pacing back and forth, muttering under his breath._

_"Terry was at the bar, then?" Kenzie asked._

_"Yes." Holmes replied, stalking over to the window._

_"Any news on the case?"_

_"Of course not." Holmes stated, glaring at me for a short moment, then turning to look at Kenzie._

_"We've been busy." She complained, glaring back at him._

_"Well, tomorrow the two of you are both off from work... So you're going to work twice as hard on this case. I don't want to hear any excuses!"_


	16. Chapter 15

Better Than Before  
Chapter 15

"I really don't think this is a good idea."

Terry sighed and rolled her eyes, then turned to look at me. She looked agitated, especially since the plan had already been discussed between the four of us.

"Listen... I know you're trying to look out for me... But this has to happen. If we want to find out more information, I'm the best bet to get it."

I turned to look at Kenzie and Watson for help, but they weren't paying attention. Either that or they knew when to keep their mouths shut. I looked back at Terry.

"Fine... But I'm going with you."

Terry rolled her eyes and grumbled angrily. She said nothing as she made her way out of the flat and onto the cold streets of Manhattan. We weren't walking for long when I saw them... Three men dressed in jeans, boots and peacoats. Two of them were wearing cabby hats.

"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" One of them asked.

Terry glanced at each of them before looking back at the one who spoke. "Are you Shane?"

The man in question looked at the two men he was with, who proceeded to look at one another. He looked back at Terry. "Who's askin'?"

"Name's Kat McCain. I'm here to volunteer my services."

A sly smile spread across the man's face. "Is that so?"

One of the other men reached out to touch her, but Terry grabbed a hold of his arm and twisted it behind his back.

"Not_ those_ services, douche bag."

She released him and pushed him forward, making the other two smile. The apparent leader of the three laughed, then took a step forward and put out a hand.

"Name's Shane Collins. This is Ian McDonald. The man ya just taught a lesson to is Gary Lennox."

"Pleasure." Terry replied, glancing at the three men in front of her.

"Aye. Now who told ya to meet us here?"

"Let's just say I know a lot of people." Terry replied.

I took a moment to look at each man. Definitely members of the Irish mob. The leader of this lot, the Collins boy, was at least a fourth generation member. The second one, McDonald, was recently in the newspaper as a suspect for a homicide. It seemed to me that the last boy, Lennox, was new.

Collins nodded at Terry. "You should come meet some more of us. We're right over here."

I immediately raised a suspicious eyebrow. What decent member of the Irish mob invites someone he just met to join them at their hideout? I looked over at Terry and saw her nod. Either the idiot wasn't paying attention to the fact they were slightly suspicious of her, or she wanted them to be suspicious and take her to the hideout for questioning. If I taught her anything about getting captured, it was questioning can work both ways.

Collins and McDonald led Terry towards their hideout, with the Lennox boy and I trailing not far behind. I watched as they grabbed a hold of Terry and threw her through the already open door, then dragged her up the stairs and into an empty room.

"You shouldn't have!" Terry shouted.

McDonald and Collins led Terry to a chair in the center of the room and tied her to it. I paced somewhat nervously around the perimeter of the room, glancing at the situation in front of me every so often. The Lennox boy remained in one spot, almost unsure of what to do.

"Now... I'm only gonna say this once... I know who ya are, Terry Bryant. My only question for ya is... What the hell are ya doin' here?"

Terry glared at Collins. "Mighty nice of you to not hit first and ask questions later... Your flaming homosexual of a brother, on the other hand... He had some major issues."

Collins narrowed his eyes angrily, then leaned closer to Terry. "Ray was a good man. And ya Yankee fucks killed him."

Terry raised a confused eyebrow. "What?"

"If I may interject for a moment... Ray Collins was murdered in a hate crime... The Irish mob thinks a rival mob did it." I stated.

"Oh... Wait... I remember... Ray was murdered, right?"

Collins glared at Terry. "Aye."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, I'm going to ask ya again... What are ya doin' here?"

"Sitting down," Terry replied.

Collins looked over at McDonald, who nodded and stepped forward. He punched Terry in the face.

"You hit like a girl." Terry stated.

Collins was shoved to the side by McDonald, who proceeded to hit Terry several more times. Before long, Collins grabbed a hold of him and pushed him into the wall.

"Real though man, hittin' a girl who's tied up. If she kicks your ass on the streets, I don't wanna hear about it... Now, for the hundredth time... The thing with Terry is ya have to ignore her."

"But how are we supposed to get her to talk?" McDonald asked.

"We _don't_." Collins replied.

The three men left the room and shut the door. I walked over to where Terry was sitting and bent over to get a better look.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy... Knowing your undead ass is still here instead of going to get Kenzie for help."

"Would you rather me do that, then?"

"Yes, stupid! I need some rescuing by someone who can hold a gun and... Well, hold things in general. Go get Kenzie."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so insistant on me going to get-"

"Because they're going to come back in. I know how they work by now, Holmes."

I sniffed and straightened up. "I'll go fetch Kenzie, then."


	17. Chapter 16

Better Than Before  
Chapter 16

_Holmes and Terry had been gone for almost five minutes when Kenzie decided it was time for a Supernatural marathon. She had been rather fond of the show for awhile now, and was more than ecstatic to find out Terry had been watching the show since it first aired. The two quickly bonded over it; having numerous marathons on their days (and nights) off while eating pizza and drinking beer. The end of the first episode Kenzie had put on was drawing to and end when I remembered I had a question to ask._

_"Wait, so Sam is the moose and Castiel is the harmless kitten?"_

_Kenzie groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sam is most definitely a moose, but Castiel isn't harmless. He's an angel."_

_"There's no such thing."_

_Kenzie and I turned around to see Holmes lurking behind us. He seemed slightly out of breath, which I could credit to traveling from one place to another in a short amount of time._

_"Holmes! What happened?" I inquired._

_"Where's Terry?"_

_I looked around behind Holmes and saw the man was very much alone. Terry was nowhere in sight, nor was she in the building._

_Holmes walked closer to Kenzie to address her. "That's why I am here... Terry was foolish enough to allow herself to be captured by the Irish mob."_

_"I thought she was supposed to be talking to them under a different alias?" I asked._

_Holmes huffed in annoyance. "They knew it was her. Hell, I don't understand why we were stupid enough to go along with her foolish plan. I should have known better!"_

_"Relax, old cock. There's no way you could have stopped her... Terry is a very headstrong person. Does she want Kenzie's aid?"_

_Holmes huffed again, this time calming himself down. "Yes, that's why I'm here."_

_Kenzie stood up and ran over to the desk to grab her gun. "Where is she?"_

_Holmes stalked over to the desk. "She's in the only building in this section of Manhattan that is guarded by Boondock Saint lookalikes."_

_"Right, gotcha."_

_Holmes and I followed Kenzie as she made her way to the warehouse Holmes had mentioned. She stood outside of the building and looked up; seemingly confused as to why there was nobody lurking around outside. Holmes went back to whatever room Terry was currently in, whereas I stayed back with Kenzie._

_"Do you want me to check inside and make sure the coast is clear?" I inquired._

_"No need for that, Doctor Watson."_

_Kenzie and I were taken aback at the sudden appearance of a man - an undead man, rather - standing immediately in front of the door. He was dressed in a fine suit and had a rather smug look on his face. He looked to be from the same time period as Holmes and I, but I had to be honest when I said I didn't know who he was upon first sight._

_It was only when he took a step closer that it dawned on me._

_"Moriarty!"_

_Kenzie raised a confused eyebrow, whereas the man in question chuckled and tilted his head back._

_"I knew you'd recognize me sooner or later, Doctor Watson," Moriarty stepped in front of me and smiled. "My, my. How time has been unkind to you," He turned to acknowledge Kenzie, then looked back at me. "I see you've been chained, as well. Why is it they take such ignorant souls like Holmes and yourself and make you into ghost guardians... The job requires patience and intelligence, which neither you nor Holmes have..."_

_"I'd shut your trap if I were you." Kenzie stated._

_Moriarty's eyes widened; and he turned to look at Kenzie in shock. "My, my. And just who might you be?"_

_"Mackenzie Hawes."_

_"Ah. Well, if I were you, Miss Hawes... I'd turn around and go back to wherever it is you came from. This little battle of wits doesn't concern you."_

_"It concerned me the moment you insulted Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes."_

_"My, my! She is a little spitfire, isn't she?"_

_"I take it you haven't met Terry."_

_"Miss Terry Bryant? Why, yes, Miss Hawes, I have."_

_"Then you'd know she's the spitfire you should watch out for." Kenzie growled._

_Moriraty glared at Kenzie, then eyeballed me. "Doctor Watson, it would be wise of you to inform your __**human**__ to hold her tongue."_

_"That's unsanitary." I informed him._

_He turned his attention to me and sneered. "I'm afraid, Doctor Watson, your tacky sarcasm is not needed at this moment in time. Either you and your human leave now unharmed, or I will alert my human and the rest of the Irish mob that you're here and you can hold your human as she dies and you return to your eternal rest."_

_"I'm not leaving without Terry." Kenzie stated._

_Moriarty shot a glance at Kenzie, then looked me in the eyes again. "I said you have to leave now."_

_Kenzie huffed in annoyance, then stormed up to the front door and pulled it open. When she noticed nobody was there with any weapons, she ran up the stairs and out of my sight._

_"You need to work on your manners."_

_"You need to shut your mouth and learn to control that girl!" Moriarty shouted._

_I raised a confused eyebrow. "What does it matter to you? You have your human to look after. I can't help the fact you irritated mine."_

_"It's not about that, Doctor Watson."_

_"Then what is it?" I asked._

_"Your puny brain wouldn't comprehend."_

_"Try me."_

_Some noise from the warehouse distracted my foe for a moment. He turned his attention back to me and tsk'ed at me._

_"Maybe another time, Doctor Watson." Moriarty stated, then took a small bow and disappeared from sight._

_Ironically, Moriarty vanished the exact moment I was able to see Kenzie again. She had Terry's arm draped over her shoulders and was walking as fast as the added weight on her war wound would allow. Holmes was following very closely._

_"Good, Watson! You're here!" Holmes exclaimed._

_"Of course I am, old boy. Where'd you think I would be?"_

_A brief moment of silence. "Never mind that! Let's go, quickly!"_

_The four of us made our way back to the flat without any confrontations with the Irish mob or Moriarty. I sighed as I watched Kenzie help Terry sit on the couch, then leave the room to get something or other. I looked over at Holmes and tapped my chin in thought._

_"I have something to tell you, old chap."_

_Holmes stopped hovering over Terry to turn and acknowledge me. "Oh?"_

_"Yes. When Kenzie and I were about to enter the building... Someone appeared to stop us..."_

_I saw I had his attention. "Oh?" He repeated._

_"Yes. Moriarty."_

_The glass of water on the table shattered._


	18. Chapter 17

Better Than Before  
Chapter 17

I stood and waited, semi-patiently, as Terry finally stirred and opened her eyes to look at me. She groaned and closed her eyes again, then shifted so she was leaning on the arm of the couch. When she reopened her eyes, she narrowed them angrily.

"Do you have to stare?"

I tsk'ed at her and backed away slightly. "Keep in mind, Terry, I_ am_ your ghost guardian and you've been unconscious for two days."

Her eyes widened slightly. "Two days?!"

"Yes, two days... Three hours, eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds."

Terry glared for a moment, then looked around. "Where's Kenzie and Watson? I have to tell all of you something very important and I don't want to have to repeat it three hundred times."

I narrowed my eyes, then stalked over to the doorway. "Watson, Mackenzie... Come at once."

It took a few moments, but Kenzie and Watson eventually appeared in the living room, looking ecstatic to see Terry was awake and alert. Kenzie ran over to her to check on her again, whereas Watson stayed at my side.

"Are you alright?" Kenzie asked.

"I'm fine." Terry replied.

"It's good to see you're okay, Terry." Watson stated, giving her a warm smile.

"Yeah, thanks. Okay, listen... I have to tell you guys something I heard the asshats I was dealing with talking about last night... Er... The other night."

"Is it so important that it can't wait until a decent hour of the day?" Watson inquired, taking a look over at the cable box for the time.

"Yes! I've wanted to tell you for days now! Okay... So... What's his name... Collins... Collins and McDonald were talking in the other room with who I can only assume to be a higher up member of the mob... They were talking loud, of course, and I was able to hear everything they were talking about. Let me tell you this... They're onto something big."

"What do you mean?" Kenzie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... You know all that Fire of Reverberation crap? Yeah, they're involved in all of that. They have help, of course... And their help is working his way into the American government."

"What?!" Watson shouted.

Terry glared at him. "Don't yell, you undead moron. I'm sitting right here and my ears work fine, thank you. But, yes... As I said... Whoever started all of the Fire of Reverberation stuff is working with the Irish mob and they're looking to commit some act of terrorism. I heard them mention they want to head down to Washington DC... And, you know what..? Remember that case we didn't want to take?"

Kenzie quirked an eyebrow, then nodded her head. "Yeah, Gordon Everson," She paused and her eyes widened in shock. "Tell me they mentioned him."

"They didn't mention him, Kenzie. He was _there_."

The room went quiet for a few moments. I think everyone was trying to let the information settle... It was difficult to process, let alone accept. Gordon Everson was described to us as a law-abiding citizen. He wasn't involved with anything illegal; he didn't even download songs. He went to work, went to his mother's for dinner and went home.

"Voluntarily or was he abducted?" I finally asked, feeling I was the only one who was capable of speaking after the new information.

"I'm not exactly sure. He was talking to them and it sounded like he had been abducted, but it also sounded like he wanted to be there at the same time. Do you get it?"

I turned away from everyone and pondered on it. "Perhaps..," I turned back to look at everyone. "Perhaps he was involved with something through an acquaintance, and no longer wanted a part of it, hence the sudden disappearance... Little does his family know, he was abducted by said acquaintance and is currently being held by the Irish mob because the acquaintance and the mob are close now... Or the acquaintance is in the mob. Either way, he's involved with them so deep that they know who his friends and family are and are threatening them, maybe explaining why he sounded like he was with them..."

"Or they're planning on paying him off after whatever they're setting up." Watson offered.

"They're going to pay him off either way, Watson. Time is against them, however."

"What makes you say that?" Kenzie inquired.

"Well... For one, Terry overheard their plans. They have to realize she's gone by now. There's no room for error, but if they're planning on rushing to push their plans forth to avoid the police finding out, then they're going to make a mistake somewhere down the line."

"Are you saying we have to rush to stop them?"

"No. Heavens, no. We wait..."

"Waiting too long will allow them to make sure they won't have any errors, Holmes. Time is neither with us or against us." Watson stated.

I huffed in annoyance. "Yes, but it's better than rushing into something and possibly getting everyone killed."

"Okay, old boy. You're right. Now... Tell me this much. We've waited two days already. How much longer can we wait before getting involved?"

* * *

**A/N: Happy holidays to all of my lovely readers! **


	19. Chapter 18

Better Than Before  
Chapter 18

_I stood by and watched as Kenzie paced back and forth. She had been acting a little out of sorts ever since Terry's ordeal five nights ago. Terry healed up and went back to work just fine, but Kenzie still seemed too over-protective. Too antsy._

_Too worried._

_I was currently positioned in the wretched Stardust Diner, watching Kenzie in between waiting tables. Her mind was wandering far away from her body, and everyone seemed to notice it but her. I couldn't decide if she was worried about the mess with Gordon Everson and the Irish mob having an insider in the American government or if she was overly concerned for Terry._

_"Mackenzie, someone is here for you."_

_Kenzie stopped pacing to turn at her co-worker, Rachel. "Who?"_

_"Some guy. No clue who he is. Never seen him before... Can barely understand him, though."_

_Kenzie quirked an eyebrow at that. "Is he wearing a black cabby hat?"_

_"Yep!"_

_Oh shit._

_"Thank you," Kenzie smiled at Rachel, making her walk away. She was about to bolt for the entrance door, but I grabbed her arm. "Let go of me, John."_

_"Kenzie, you know you shouldn't just... Run off to talk to that bastard."_

_"John, he wouldn't come to talk to me unless there was a problem..."_

_"Mackenzie!"_

_Kenzie's eyes widened. "John, you promised you'd never..."_

_"I'm trying to save you a bunch of heartache right now, Kenzie! Your father, who was never much of one to you, might I add, has walked away from you too many times. What's going to stop him from doing it again?"_

_Instead of responding, Kenzie whirled around, making me release my grip on her arm. She stormed away, leaving me no choice but to follow her._

_"Da?"_

_I snarled in disapproval as Daniel Hawes turned to look at Kenzie._

_"Hello, Mackenzie."_

_"What can I do for you, da?"_

_Daniel gave Kenzie a small smile. "Not so happy to see your da again, Mackenzie?"_

_"I'd be happier if you didn't call me 'Mackenzie,' da..."_

_"Ah, yes. Kenzie, right? You like being called Kenzie?"_

_"Yes, I do," When it looked like Daniel wanted to bolt, Kenzie grabbed his wrist. "You know I'm always happy to see you, da. I just don't understand why you didn't write to me and tell me mum died and you were going to America... I don't want to argue, da. I'm done arguing with you. I just want to be a family again."_

_Daniel sighed. "I'm afraid we can't do that, love."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because he's a bastard." I grumbled._

_"Because I have important business to attend to... I can't tell you what it is just yet, but you'll most likely know when you hear about it. You'll be proud of me, I promise," Daniel paused, then reached forward to grab both of Kenzie's hands. "I love you, my dear. I always have."_

_"Why does this sound like a goodbye?"_

_"Because it most likely is, love." Daniel placed a gentle kiss on Kenzie's left hand, then released them and backed away._

_"Da... Please don't go... Talk to me! Da? Da!"_

_Daniel continued walking, choosing to ignore Kenzie until he was far out of sight._

_I turned to face Kenzie again. "Kenzie..."_

_"If you say 'I told you so,' I swear I will send you wherever it is you belong. Heaven, hell, purgatory. I don't care."_

_"Don't say that, Kenzie... I'm trying to help you!"_

_"I don't want to hear it right now!"_

_Kenzie turned away just as Terry and Holmes hopped out of a taxi._

_"What happened?"_


	20. Chapter 19

Better Than Before  
Chapter 19

Terry was extremely anxious in the cab on the way to Stardust Diner. Possibly because she was late for work, but most likely because of me. My anxiety had increased massively over the last few moments, and my mind knew it was because of Watson... Which, in turn, meant there was something askew with Mackenzie.

As the cab was pulling up to the Diner, I instantly recognized the black pea coat and cabby hat that Kenzie's father had been wearing during our first encounter with him a week or so ago. He was walking away from Kenzie, who was shouting 'Da' as loud as she could, trying to get his attention. The man kept walking, and my anxiety grew with each step he took. Eventually, he was out of sight, and I saw Watson and Kenzie speaking to one another, although I couldn't hear what they were saying. I glanced at the end of the block and saw a figure waiting for Daniel Hawes.

It was at that exact moment I felt like I had been shoved into a brick wall.

The cab was nearly in park when I jumped out, rather uncharacteristically, and made my way over to Watson, not once taking my eyes off of the figure at the end of the block, who had remained there despite the fact his ward continued walking.

"What happened?!" Terry yelled, catching Watson by surprise.

"Are you alright, old chap?" I asked, once I was at Watson's side.

"Yes, Holmes."

"Are you sure? You look a bit pale."

"You're one to talk." Watson stated, looking at me with a quirked eyebrow.

I sighed, finally turning to look at Watson once that bloody figure finally decided to catch up with his ward. "I feel the need to parrot what my ward said earlier when she inquired as to what happened."

Watson sighed. "Kenzie's father came by to-"

"Not a bloody word, Watson!" Kenzie shouted.

Terry was clearly taken aback by the woman's tone, as were Watson and I, as we all turned to look at her in shock.

"We want to help you!"

Kenzie finally turned to look at everyone, and I wasn't very surprised to see tears streaming down her face. She looked absolutely miserable. "Oh, yeah? I'd bet you do! My da just walked out of my life... Again. And something tells me I'm never going to see him again. John was right. He walked out on me once and didn't even have the gall to tell me my mum died. Why did I think I would be able to find him and convince him to come back to Scotland with me? I never should have come to this stupid country to look for him."

I must say, she rendered me speechless. Terry was afraid of going anywhere near her. Watson, gladly, was the one who was brave enough to step closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Mackenzie... I know you don't want to listen to me right now... But we want to help you. We don't want to rub it in. Believe me, I remember all those years you spoke of getting away from your da and how wonderful life would be if Andrew were still alive... I know, deep down, you didn't want to stay in Calton forever. Well, maybe for Aidan and your mum, but that's a different story. You were right to come here in search for your da... You deserved some sort of closure. Sure, your da is a bit of an ass and he only cares about himself, but you got to tell him how you felt... And that should count for something, right?"

"I don't know."

Watson sighed again. "Well, now... How about you get up off the floor and wash your face? You have to get back inside and get back to work if you don't want to get fired," Watson turned to look at Terry. "And you had better get in there as soon as humanly possible... Because they'll shish kabob your ass for being this late in an instant."

Terry rolled her eyes in mild annoyance. "There's nothing funnier than having a dead English guy tell you you're about to get shish kabobed," She mumbled, then leaned over and extended a hand for Kenzie to grab. "Come on, Kenzie... A few more hours and we'll be back at the flat sipping on Guinness and stuffing our faces with pizza while watching Supernatural."

I was surprised that Kenzie extended her hand and allowed Terry to help her up. They even hugged before walking into the Diner.

"That was pleasant," Watson remarked, turning to follow them. However, I grabbed his arm and stopped him, making him turn to look at me. "What is it, Holmes?"

"While we were on our way here, I saw him..."

"Saw who?"

"Moriarty."

"What? Where?!"

"With Kenzie's dad."

Watson's face dropped. "You don't mean..."

"Yes, I'm afraid I do."

Watson brought a hand to his cheek and started rubbing it. "Moriarty is Daniel Hawes' ghost guardian!?"

"Yes."

"How..? How the bloody hell is that possible?! I've been near that man ever since Kenzie was born and I never saw... I can't... How did I not see him!?"

"Calm down, old boy! It's not your fault. If Moriarty didn't want you to see him, you weren't going to... You know how that works... I didn't even notice until just now... But it's all starting to make sense..."

"Yeah? And how is that?"

"Well, Kenzie's father attempts to avoid her like the plague... Moriarty warned you and Kenzie to avoid the warehouse that one night. It could only mean Moriarty has... Feelings towards Kenzie and doesn't want to see her get hurt."

"But those are only projected feelings he gets from Daniel."

"Correct... But there's a reason why he's making Daniel avoid her."

"You keep saying there's a reason for it but you don't elaborate!"

"That's because I'm unsure as to what it is!"

Watson stared at me, confusion etched on his face. "How..? The great Sherlock Holmes is baffled... We're in trouble."

"No, we definitely are not! We have Terry and Kenzie to help us."

"Yes, but we have to wait."

"Waiting is what I do worse. Care to join me for a walk, Watson?"

"To where?"

"Anywhere. Cardiff. London. Paris."

"Holmes, we can't walk on water."

"Damn."

"Why don't we just wait in the flat?"

"No! Let's walk to Philadelphia."

Watson groaned. "You'll be the post-death demise of me, Holmes."

"Good!"


	21. Chapter 20

Better Than Before  
Chapter 20

_It seemed like days before the girls got off of work and we were back in the flat. True to her word, Terry took out the beer, ordered some pizza and turned on Supernatural. They had been sitting on the couch watching the show for about two hours by the time Holmes returned._

_"Where have you been?!" We shouted in unison, then looked at one another funny._

_"Watching the girls!" I replied, still staring at him like he had grown another head._

_Holmes huffed in annoyance. "You were supposed to be following me!"_

_"Yeah, well, I lost you when you crossed into Memphis."_

_"Dear fellow, I'd imagine I'm hard to lose."_

_"You kept walking, even after I told you their shift was over."_

_"You said you would take a walk with me!"_

_"Yes! To Philadelphia! Where the hell did you end up?"_

_"El Paso, Texas."_

_"Did you ever stop to wonder where I was?"_

_"No, but I did think something was off when I didn't hear your walking stick anymore..."_

_"Unbelievable!"_

_"Shhhhhhhhh!" Terry shushed._

_Holmes and I looked over at the girls and saw they were perfectly awake, watching the TV with wide eyes._

_"It's a fake show!" Holmes shouted._

_"But it's Castiel!"_

_Holmes remained quiet for the duration of the episode, much to my surprise. It took me until the credits to realize he was probably thinking about how to tell Kenzie the latest news._

_Once the credits stopped rolling, Holmes cleared his throat. "Would you ladies mind giving me your attention, please? I'm afraid this is of the upmost importance."_

_Terry rolled her eyes. "I promised Scotch a Supernatural marathon... As in absolutely no interruptions."_

_"Terry, please."_

_The desperation in Holmes' voice must've caught Terry's attention, for she turned to look at him, then turned the TV off. "What's the matter, Holmes?"_

_"I'm afraid I must break some bad news to Mackenzie."_

_Kenzie turned to acknowledge Holmes at that moment. "Hmm?"_

_"Perhaps you should have some alcohol first." I offered._

_Holmes clapped his hands. "Yes! Wonderful idea! Something hard, though!"_

_Kenzie and Terry turned to look at one another. "What?"_

_"No hard liquor, then?" Holmes asked, sounding somewhat nervous._

_"I have an early shift later..," Kenzie looked back and forth between Holmes and I, then sighed. "Okay, what the bloody hell is going on?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Bullshit!" Kenzie shouted._

_"Scotch is right... You two are acting awfully funny... And you said it has something to do with Kenzie. So spit it out already."_

_Holmes looked over at me. "Well?"_

_I sighed. "Go for it."_

_Holmes turned to look at Kenzie. "Kenzie, my dear... I regret to inform you that I know what your father is doing."_

_Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"_

_"Well... Remember when you saw Moriarty outside of the warehouse the Irish mob took Terry?"_

_"Yeah..?"_

_"And you remember what Terry told us they were talking about?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Okay... Well... I saw Moriarty earlier... Outside of the Diner," When Kenzie remained silent and continued staring at Holmes, he sighed. "With your father."_

_"What..?"_

_"Kenzie, I'm afraid Moriarty is your father's ghost guardian."_

_"But... But that's not possible. I would've seen him!"_

_I made my way over to Kenzie and sat down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. "My dearest Mackenzie... Please calm down... Don't freak out. I thought the same as you when Holmes first told me... But, the truth is, we couldn't have seen him, especially if he didn't want us to. Which he obviously didn't. Think of it this way... Your father has avoided you for a very long time, especially after Andrew's death. That was because of Moriarty. Once I started letting you see me, Moriarty was also able to see me. And, as you can tell, he doesn't like me very much, and that rubbed off on your dad."_

_"But... You said Moriarty tried to keep you from going into the warehouse that night." Terry stated._

_"Yes, that's because, as Kenzie's father's need to stay away from her comes from Moriarty, Moriarty has a fondness of Kenzie that stems from her father." Holmes replied._

_"So it's kind of like a double negative... The need for avoidance and the fondness cancel each other out. Kenzie's dad doesn't know how to feel." I continued._

_Terry sighed. "What will we do?"_

_"Well... There's not much we can do." Holmes stated._

_"Yes, there is."_

_We turned to look at Kenzie when she spoke._

_"How so?" Terry asked._

_Kenzie looked up at everyone. "We find my da... And we take him down."_

_Holmes rushed over to Kenzie and knelt down in front of her. "My dear... He'll go to prison for treason."_

_"Good."_

_"You'll never see him again." I commented._

_Kenzie shrugged her shoulders. "Then I'll see him just as much as I do now."_

_Holmes and I looked at one another, then Holmes clapped his hands together and swiftly stood up. "Then let's get to work! The game is afoot!"_


	22. Chapter 21

Better Than Before  
Chapter 21

Watson and I trailed behind Terry and Kenzie as they ran through the busy streets of Washington DC. We had traced Kenzie's father to a big political gathering of sorts in the Nation's Capital. We had no idea what he was doing there, as Kenzie said he had no interest in any type of politics, but we decided it was pivotal to get to Washington DC to try and stop him.

"Where the bloody hell is this goddamn building?! These streets are so weird and the buildings are starting to look the same!"

I turned to look at Watson as we ran, absolutely revelling in the fact I didn't have to watch out for pedestrians. "If these buildings are starting to look the same to you, might I recommend getting your hands on a pair of glasses?"

Watson scowled at me. "Shove it, old cock."

I once again turned my attention back to Terry and Kenzie, only to see they had stopped short and were looking up at a huge building. Having lived in New York City with Terry for the better part of five years, as well as being in London during the early 1900's, I'm never one to admit when a building is big, for I usually go into better detail since I'm rather used to large buildings. However, this time, I was at a loss for how to describe it without using the word 'big.'

Enormous, perhaps?

"This is the address." Kenzie stated.

I sighed, trying to think of what we should do. "If there is a political gathering, surely there will be a guard at the door checking names for admittance... The only option you have is to disguise yourselves."

"As?" Terry asked, turning to look at me with an eyebrow raised.

I turned to the side, a smug look tugging at my features, as security guards, military personnel and undercover security agents started making their way towards the building.

"Oh hell no," I turned to face Kenzie when she spoke. "Sneaking around trying to stop whatever my dad is planning on doing is one thing, but I am not rendering a cop unconscious to get their uniform."

"Nonsense. Just pretend you're an undercover agent."

"That won't work, Holmes... Things have changed." Watson commented.

"Yeah. We need badges, guns and headsets."

"Well, go get them."

After several moments of exchanging awkward glares with me, Terry and Kenzie stormed off to see what they could do.

"Should we go after them?"

I turned to look at Watson and tsk'ed at him. "What would be the fun in that? Let's see how creative they can be."

"Holmes. They don't know anyone. They could get arrested."

"We faced similar problems once upon a time. We had no one to help us... It's about time they learned how to operate on their own."

Several minutes and many irritated ramblings later, Terry and Kenzie made their way back over to where Watson and I were waiting for them. Much to my satisfaction, they returned looking like security guards, complete with headsets, guns, jackets, hats and badges.

"Nice." I commented.

Watson gaped at them. "Just where did you steal all of that from!?" He shouted.

"Not 'where,' John... 'Who.'" Kenzie mumbled.

"You have got to be kidding me... I raised you to be proper!"

"Well now she's a proper thief, so you did something right," I leaned closer to the girls and turned to look at the building, then turned back to look at Kenzie and Terry. "We need to get inside, immediately... And we have to look around for your father. I believe he's on one of the higher floors. I can smell the stench from here."

Terry raised a confused eyebrow. "What stench?"

"Moriarty."

Twenty-three minutes and seven awkward moments on the lift later, Terry, Kenzie, Watson and I slid onto the nineteenth floor completely undetected by anyone. I glanced around at everyone and everything; details were still one of the most important parts of crime solving and it was something I had to teach Terry to hone in on. Luckily, somehow, Kenzie was able to pick up on things Terry didn't see, and it's always useful to have more than one person looking at something.

Speaking of looking at something; a black pea coat and a cabby hat just slid out of my peripheral vision and headed towards one of the conference rooms down the hall.

"Terry. Kenzie. This way."

The four of us made our way through the crowd, then down the hall I swore I saw Kenzie's father walking towards. Once we reached the conference room, Watson and I made way for Kenzie, kindly giving the young woman access to the door.

She knocked on it gingerly. "'Ello?"

"Aye?"

Kenzie turned to look at everyone. "It's him," She whispered, then turned back towards the door. "Security. Open up."

"Impressive American accent, Scotch." Terry whispered.

"Thanks." Kenzie replied.

"Now, Kenzie... When he sees you, he's going to freak out and slam the door. You need to shove your foot in the way, then tuck and roll to get inside. Do you understand me?" I asked.

Kenzie was barely able to nod before her father opened the door and frowned at her. I was rather impressed at how fast Kenzie moved, although I had to attribute it to her time in the military. She was inside the room in almost no time at all, whirling around to draw a pistol at her father. The man automatically put his hands up in defeat, which gave Watson, Terry and I time to get into the room. Terry slammed the door and locked it behind her.

"I hate to do this, da. But you leave us with no choice. We have to stop you," Kenzie looked over at Terry. "See if he has a weapon or any form of technology on him."

Kenzie's father chuckled. "Do you honestly think I'm alone in this?"

"We already know you have Gordon Everson involved, as well as some members of the New York City Irish mob." Terry stated, tossing a cell phone she had just pulled out of Daniel Hawes' pocket at Kenzie.

"Very impressive... But have you figured out what my big plan is yet?"

Terry and Kenzie exchanged awkward looks, making Watson turn to look at me. "Have you?" He asked.

"He wants to detonate a small bomb in the main conference room." I deduced.

"You're going to detonate a small bomb, created by Gordon Everson, in the main conference room to get rid of the majority of political figures who gathered here... Anyone who makes it out will be shot and killed by the Irish mob, who you have disguised as security guards." Kenzie stated.

Daniel Hawes and Terry both turned to look at Kenzie with their mouths gaped open in shock. I was slightly impressed with her deduction skills, as I had put the situation together in my head mere moments before we entered the room we were currently in and had no time whatsoever to tell Terry and Kenzie what I had figured out.

"Impressive." Daniel stated.

"You aren't going to get away with it, da."

Daniel tsk'ed at her. "I'm pretty sure I will... I know more people around here than you do."

It didn't take long for Terry to smack Daniel Hawes in the head with her pistol, rendering him unconscious and sending him to the floor. "Maybe, but she knows me and that's more than enough, asshole."

Kenzie chuckled as she put her pistol away. "Nice work... Now we have to find the bomb."

"It's probably closer to the main conference room... In an air duct, maybe?" Watson asked.

"Perhaps." I replied.

"I am most impressed with your wards," The four of us whirled around and saw none other than Moriarty standing in the corner of the room, glaring at us with all of the malice he could muster. "There was barely any help from the peanut gallery when it came to figuring out what Daniel's purpose here was. Impressive for an Army Doctor."

Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "I'm not an Army Doctor."

"Right, sorry. Impressive for a theatre rat."

The young woman narrowed her eyes angrily. "I'm sorry, are you trying to be offensive? Because you're just annoying."

Moriarty rolled his eyes angrily and started edging closer to us. "You two have exactly six and a half minutes to find that bomb before it detonates... And the blast is big enough to reach this room, so, if I were you, I would hurry."

Once I felt two pairs of eyes land on me, I huffed in annoyance. "Go."

The girls ran from the room, desperately trying to figure out where the bomb was before it was too late. Hopefully Watson was right when he suggested it was in the air duct.

"Now... We're alone."

"Not entirely. Watson is at my side." I replied.

Moriarty tutted in annoyance, taking the final steps to close the massive amount of distance between us. "John Watson is of no importance to me," Moriarty leaned in close. "It was always about finding you, you evasive little swine. Do you know how long I've been waiting to get this opportunity again?"

"Clearly you need to find a new hobby." Watson commented.

Moriarty glanced at Watson, then dismissed him and returned his attention to me. "Have you figured it all out yet? Why did I send Daniel Hawes on this insane little goose chase around the globe?"

I wracked my brain, trying to process decades worth of information. When I originally faced Moriarty, he had us diverted to an entirely different building, and we were too late to save those in the building with the real bomb. We were, however, eventually brought together for a face-to-face chess game at Reichenbach Falls.

Although maniacal, Moriarty was very wise. He wouldn't use the same trick twice, even a century later.

"You knew I was Kenzie's guardian," Watson's voice, thankfully interrupted my awkward silence, which allowed me more thinking time as Moriarty turned his attention to my oldest and most sacred friend. "Why would you make her father hate her? All anyone wants is love and approval from their father; and you made hers loathe the ground she walked on."

"Very simple answer to that, don't you think, Doctor Watson?"

"Because of my connection to Holmes, I know. But Kenzie had nothing to do with that. She didn't ask to be partnered with me."

"When there's a John Watson, there will be a Sherlock Holmes walking the Earth at the same time."

"You sent Daniel abroad to find Holmes."

Moriarty's answering silence made everything click in my head. Thank you for the push, Watson.

"You made Daniel Hawes kill his wife. That's why he never contacted Kenzie to tell her that her mother had died. You used your connections with free spirits and ghost guardians to find out where I was, as I'm sure it takes awhile to locate someone when you're dead and you don't have the ease of picking up a phone or going on a computer. You had us tracked down to New York when Kenzie was in the Army, and you had Daniel come here so you could find me."

Moriarty looked bored, as though it were completely obvious and a five year old could figure it out. "Right. Now, Sherlock Holmes... What do I want?"

"You want an ultimate battle of wits; one where neither contestant can die, as we seem to be immortal now."

The man smiled evilly at me. "Correct."

"What wit? Holmes just figured out your reasoning for doing all of this. What more is there to figure out?"

"Such a puny brain you have, Doctor Watson... Don't worry... Let the big boys handle this... So, Mr. Holmes... Why Washington DC?"

"The Capital of the United States of America? Haven't the slightest idea... Besides the fact it's one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world, every person hoping to get into national politics comes here, and major political leaders gather here every so often for meetings, so it would be easy to kill a lot of them off during a gathering by, say... Throwing a bomb in the room with them."

"Keep it up, Mr. Holmes..."

"Yes. Well... When Daniel Hawes arrived here, he used what little connections he had through you to get members of the Irish mob to do business with him. They, of course, have contacts on the outside who were more than happy to do some dirty work for him... Gordon Everson was working on a very discrete bomb that omitted poisonous gas before detonating, so it would take out more than the intended victims, if need be, and the remaining pieces of the bomb would be so minute that nobody would be able to tell what it was made out of. Everson's bomb would have been absolutely perfect for your little plan to overthrow the government and have the Irish mob scum and their associates take over... However, Everson wouldn't sell the bomb to Daniel, so he got the mob to abduct him and they forced him to hand it over, hence why you now have possession of the bomb and have it hidden somewhere on this floor. Did I leave anything out?"

"Just the fact your ward and her acquaintance have three minutes to find the bomb."

"Holmes," I turned to look at Watson when I noticed the tone of his voice. "What if Daniel has it?"

I turned to look at Moriarty, who had gone oddly quiet since hearing Watson's question, as he usually hummed whenever he wasn't talking.

"Tie up any loose ends."

Moriarty's eyebrow quirked ever so slightly after hearing that, and a sly smirk spread across his features. "Right you are."

Just as I was about to make a run for the door, Kenzie and Terry burst in. "We can't find the bloody thing!" Kenzie shouted, dusting herself off.

"Your father has it."

Kenzie's eyes widened in shock, then she turned to glare at Moriarty. She made her way over to Daniel and knelt down beside him, once again checking his pockets. "There's nothing here." She stated.

"His cell phone, maybe?" Terry asked.

"No, no! That's illogical!" I shouted, then started pacing.

"We're running out of time, Holmes!" Watson shouted.

I turned to look at Kenzie the moment it looked like something clicked in her head. We made eye contact, then looked over at Moriarty.

"He hinted at it." Kenzie finally stated.

"What?" Terry asked, confused.

"He hinted at it earlier. When he said I was an Army Doctor."

"Explain!?" Terry shouted, clearly on the verge of several different breakdowns all rolled into one.

"The bomb isn't in one of the other rooms. And it isn't in a wall, a vault or an air duct." I stated.

"I need to be a Doctor in order to get the bomb."

Terry looked back and forth between Kenzie and I, then glanced over at Watson, who was probably just as confused as she was.

"Good God," Watson finally groaned. "The bomb is _in_ him."

"And is going to detonate in two minutes and thirty-one seconds... Snap, snap."

At that moment, Daniel Hawes suddenly woke up and sat up, looking at up at everyone awkwardly. His eyes seemed to linger on Moriarty longer than anyone else, before he finally turned his attention to Kenzie. "It isn't in me."

"What?"

"Everson's bomb."

"Then where is it?" Terry asked.

Daniel eyed her for a moment, then settled his eyes on Kenzie again. "You had it before."

Kenzie looked stuck her hand in her pocket, then pulled out Daniel's cell phone. "You mean..?"

"Correct."

Kenzie stood up to run, but Terry stopped her. "What the hell are you going to do?! Run out of this room with a bomb that's about a minute away from exploding?!"

"That was my plan!"

Terry tsk'ed at her. "Kenzie... I'm sure there's something else we can do..."

"Like what? Open the window and toss the soon-to-be exploding bomb out into the air so innocent people can breathe in poisonous fumes and most likely die from the bomb exploding?!" Watson shouted.

"Kenzie. See the little blue piece on the phone? Pull it out and break it."

The young woman did as I asked, then looked at me. "What was that for?"

"Don't know." I replied, at the same exact time Daniel asked his daughter who she was talking to.

"Fifteen seconds." Moriarty counted, then proceeded to treat the bomb as if it were a new year.

Once he reached one, everyone in the room winced, but nothing happened.

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dunnnnnnnn.**

**I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed typing it. Remember, if you have any questions, if you need advice, if you want to request a story or if you just want to chat, feel free to PM me. **

**Happy reading!**


	23. Epilogue

Better Than Before  
Epilogue

_There was no explosion._

_Looking back on the moment Moriarty hit 'one' in his countdown, it was a moment of absolute peace. Everyone in the room thought it was going to be the end. Holmes and I were sure we would never be able to speak to Kenzie and Terry again; as we would be sent elsewhere if they would have died. I was nervous, but remained calm and cool as we waited for something, anything, to happen. Alas, nothing did, and we all turned to look at the shocked expression on Moriarty's face._

_"You deceived me!" Moriarty shouted, turning to point an accusing finger at Daniel Hawes._

_"It was nothing I did." Daniel retorted, looking over at Kenzie._

_Kenzie raised a confused eyebrow, then looked at the cell phone in her hand and the shattered blue thing Holmes told her to remove and shatter. It suddenly clicked. "That was the trigger."_

_Holmes had figured it out just in time, and nearly everyone in the room was grateful. Terry was more than happy to hold Daniel at gunpoint while Kenzie went to fetch a police officer. She watched in silence as they arrested him and dragged him from the room, not once turning to look at him._

_We were surprised at how law enforcement and the government took little to no time to sentence Daniel. Then again, as Kenzie mentioned, he probably spilled the beans the moment they took him in for questioning. Daniel Hawes had been sentenced for conspiracy to commit treason. He was able to make a deal with the government by giving up all of his associates, including the majority of the New York City Irish mob. Gordon Everson was arrested but released with mandatory community service and two years probation, mostly due to the fact Daniel Hawes admitted to kidnapping Everson in order to force him into making the bomb._

_Low and behold, two months after the mishap in Washington DC, the four of us were sitting in the flat on a rather beautiful winter day. Terry was eyeing Kenzie every so often, but wouldn't meet her eye when the other woman looked up. I couldn't figure out why for the life of me, until I remembered what Kenzie had said..._

"I was invalided home from Iraq to find out my mother died and my father came to New York. So I'm here to find him and go home."

_Terry thought Kenzie was going to leave._

_I tilted my head to the side and considered the situation. Kenzie never would have thought her father would have anything to do with her mother's death, nor did she think he would be involved in a plot to destroy the United States government. The only thing she had to go home to in Scotland was her friend, Aidan. I wasn't sure if she had been in contact with him, as she was very good in hiding her phone while texting someone, but I was almost positive she wouldn't make such a big trip for one person._

_Then again, she made the trip to New York City for her father, so I could be wrong._

_Supernatural was playing on the TV in the background when Kenzie finally turned to look at Terry. "What are you looking at me like that for?"_

_Terry looked like a deer in the headlights, whereas Holmes looked over at Kenzie with a slightly quirked eyebrow._

_"Nothing..?" Terry offered._

_"Bull. You've been staring at me all day."_

_Terry sighed and looked over at Holmes for support._

_"She thinks you're going to go back to Scotland."_

_Kenzie sighed and looked down at the floor. "I was afraid you were going to bring that up."_

_"Well, you did say you were only here to get your dad back... And, not to sound like an ass, but look how that turned out..."_

_"I know." Kenzie stated, sighing as she turned to look at Terry again._

_"Well..? Are you going to leave?"_

_"I can't leave you any more than I can take Watson away from Holmes. So, no, I'm not. My place is here. "_

_Terry jumped off of her chair and hugged Kenzie tighter than I ever thought possible, especially when thinking back to how they behaved when they first met. My, those days were rocky. It was only after a few weeks that they were able to mesh and get along, just like what happened with Holmes and I._

_"There's one more thing, though."_

_Holmes and I turned to look at Kenzie, who was now standing up looking very disheveled from her hug with Terry._

_"Yes?"_

_"I... I sort of invited my friend Aidan to come and live here with us..."_

_Terry looked unamused. "You did what?"_

_"We have an extra room and he's really good for money so please don't hate me."_

_An awkward silence filled the room, before Terry finally sighed. "Is he hot?"_

_"Yes, he's quite attractive. I'm very happy to tell you he's mine, though."_

_"What?! Not fair! I didn't even get to meet him!"_

_"I've known him for the majority of my life! That entitles me to something!"_

_"No!"_

_"Yeah! What logic are you going on!?"_

_"American logic! Which states I have to give him the speech!"_

_"What bloody speech!?"_

_The fighting faded out... I smiled as I thought about how Terry and Kenzie were nearly spitting images of Holmes and I, personality wise. How Terry was behaving right now was very similar to how Holmes behaved when I told him I was dating Mary._

_"Well, old boy, it looks as if we'll be spending more time together."_

_I snapped out of whatever daze I was in and turned to look at Holmes. The brilliant and rare smile on his face and the pure happiness in his voice made me smile at him and place a hand on his shoulder._

_"Yes, yes. It does seem that way... And it makes me very happy."_

* * *

**A/N: I'm very proud to announce that this is the end of 'Better Than Before!'**

**Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You guys helped inspire me to continue writing it, even though I lost my co-author very early on.**

**If you have any questions or you need advice with something, don't hesitate to PM me! I'm always more than happy to help!**

**Also, I'm always accepting fic and Beta requests.**

**But, yeah... Thank you so much for all of your support! **


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